
Class 
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STUDIES IN JAMAICA HISTORY 



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The Arms of Jamaica. 



DURO DE COR TICK FRUCTUS QUAM DULCES 

STUDIES 

IN 

JAMAICA HISTORY 

/ BY 



FRANK CUNDALL, F.S.A. 




WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY MRS. LIONEL LEE 



PUBLISHED FOR THE INSTJXUTE C\F f^AM^AICl^ \ 

BY ' 

SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON.AMD C9M^a:^;^Y^' Limited 

FETTER LANE, LONDON, E.G. 
19CO 



LONDON: 
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, 

STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 



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TO 

EDITH, LADY BLAKE 

WHO FOR MANY YEARS HAS TAKEN A DEEP INTEREST 
IN THE WELFARE OF JAMAICA 
THESE STUDIES ARE 
DEDICATED 



PREFACE 



These studies have been published with the double 
object of attempting to interest the people of Jamaica 
in the story of their own island, and of providing 
particulars of a few of the epochs in its history for 
the tourists and others who year by year visit its 
shores. 

It is also hoped that they may, perchance, appeal 
to some other of the inhabitants of that Empire of 
which Jamaica forms a small but very loyal part. 

Views of several of the scenes here reproduced 
have never before been published in any form. 

F. C. 

Institute of Jamaica. 

Kingston, Jamaica. 
October^ 190c. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Dry Harbour. Discovery of Jamaica by Columbus, 

4th May, 1494 i 

Passage Fort. Capture by the English, loth ]May, 1655. 10 

Carlisle Bay. Repulse of the French, 19th July, 1694. . 23 

King's House, Spanish Town. Governor's Ofhcial 

Residence, 1762 30 

Admiral's Pen, Kingston. AdmiraPs Official Residence, 

1774 38 

Nelson's Quarter - Deck, Port Royal. Nelson's 

Jamaica Residence, 1779 52 

Bryan Castle, Trelawny. Bryan Edwards's Jamaica 

Home, 1787 60 

Raymond Hall, St. Andrew., The Home of '* Aaron 

Bang,-' 1 8 10 70 

The Arms of Jamaica. . -j-j 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Arms of Jamaica. Granted by Charles II. in 1662. 

Frontispiece 

The Nina. The Caravel in which Columbus discovered 
Jamaica. From the model shown at the Chicago 
Exposition Title-page 

PAGE 

Portrait of Columbus. From the painting in the 

possession of Dr. A. de Orchi, of Como i 

Dry Harbour 4 

An Arawak Bowl. In the Museum of the Institute of 

Jamaica 9 

Portrait of General Venables. From the painting 

at Wincham^ Cheshire 10 

Portrait of Admiral Penn, From the painting by 

Sir Peter Lely at Greenwich Hospital 10 

Passage Fort 14 

Carlisle Bay 26 

King's House, Spanish Town . . 32 

Admiral's Pen, Kingston 40 

Portrait of Nelson. From the painting by Francis 

Rigand^ in the possession of Earl N'elson . . . .52 

Nelson's Ouarter-Deck, Port Royal 54 

Portrait of Bryan Edwards. From the painting by 

Francis Lemuel Abbott 60 

Bryan Castle, Trelawny 62 

Raymond Hall, St. Andrew ^^2 

Tom Cringle's Cotton Tree at Up-Park Camp . . 76 



STUDIES 



IN 



JAMAICA HISTORY 



Dry Harbour 

On the I2th ;of September, 1492, Columbus, after 

opposition and difficulties which would have deterred 

all but very resolute men, 

was the first European 

to set foot in the New 

World — landing on that 

day at Guanahani (Watling 

Island) in the Bahamas. 

Cuba and Hispaniola 

(Haiti) were discovered on 

his homeward voyage. 

On the 4th of May, 
1494, while on his second 
voyage of discovery, he columbus. 

was the first European to 

land in Jamaica, running^ his lateen-rigged caravel 
the Nina and her two consorts into Dry Harbour 
Bay, on the north side of the island. 




2 Studies in Jamaica History 

On the 24th of April,* Columbus had left his new- 
founded city of Isabella, in Hispaniola, and started 
on a further voyage of discovery. He sailed westward 
along the north coast of Hispaniola, and, leaving the 
point we now call Cape St. Nicholas, stood across to 
Cuba. He anchored in a harbour (Guantanamo) to 
which he gave the name of Puerto Grande. Leaving 
on the 1st of May, he coasted along the southern 
shore, admiring the beauty of the landscape, noting 
the rivers, and receiving visits from nunierous Indians 
in their canoes, with whom he exchanged beads and 
hawks' bells for cassava bread, fish and fresh water. 
But soon, on the advice of his Guanahani guide, 
whom he had taken to Spain on returning from his 
first voyage, he stood due south in order to visit a 
large island of which the natives spoke. 

As he neared the island, a number of carved and 
painted canoes, one nearly ninety feet in length, 
crowded with Indians, came out to meet him a 
league's length from the shore. After giving them 
presents, Columbus sailed on and dropped anchor in 
a place which he named Santa Gloria, on account of 
its extreme beauty. Passing the night there, he 
sailed westward to find a closed port in which he 
might careen and caulk up his vessels. About four 
leagues farther on, he found a very singular port, 
to use the words of Bernaldez (or, as Fernando 
Colombo describes it, resembling a horseshoe in 
shape), which he named Puerto Bueno. Here two 

* For an accoitnt of this part of the second voyage we have 
to depend chiefly on the " Historia de los Reyes CatoHcos" 
of Bernaldez, supplemented by the " Historic" of Fernando 
Colombo, and the '' Decades" of Peter Martyr. 



Dry Harbour 3 

canoes full of Indians niet him, but after six or seven 
of the natives had been wounded by bolts from the 
Spaniards' cross-bows, they retreated. 

On anchoring, Columbus saw " so many Indians 
that the earth was covered with them," all painted, 
chiefly in black, wearing nothing but plumes on their 
heads and aprons of leaves round their waists. 
Wishing to assert his authority and instil a fear for 
the arms of Castile into the hearts of the natives, 
Columbus, as the caravels could not reach the shore 
owing to the shallowness of the water, sent three 
boat-loads of men, who, aided by the pioneer of those 
hounds which afterwards did fearful execution amongst 
the poor Indians,, drove them off, so that there was 
not a man or woman left in the neighbourhood. On 
the following day six Indians came as ambassadors 
from the caciques, or chiefs, begging Columbus not 
to go away ; and later on the caciques themselves and 
many followers came and brought provisions, which 
probably consisted of cassava, arrowroot, guavas, nase- 
berries, cocoa-plums and star-apples. During the 
time they v/ere there the Spaniards had everything 
in abundance, and the Indians were very pleased with 
the things (hawks.* bells, beads, and the like) which 
the admiral gave them. When the vessels had been 
repaired and the crews were rested, Columbus left 
Puerto Bueno after a three days' stay, and skirted 
the northern shore, being visited from each village, by 
canoes full of Indians, who exchanged native products 
for hawks' bells and beads, till he came to Point 
Negril, which he named " Cabo del Buen Tiempo." 
Here an Indian, more enterprising than his fellows, 
in spite of the dissuasions of his friends, asked and 

B 2 



4 Studies in Jamaica History 

obtained leave to accompany Columbus. Unfortu- 
nately we have no further tidings of this the first 
emigrant from Jamaica, and probably the first willing 
emigrant from the New World to the Old. 

Owing partly to contrary winds and partly to the 
impression that there was *^no gold in it or any other 
metal, although the island was otherwise a paradise 
and worth more than gold," Columbus now left 
Jamaica and returned to Cuba. 

The historians of Jamaica and the West Indies 
generally have thrown but little light on the subject 
of the Jamaica landfall. For a time the honour was 
about equally divided between St. Ann's Bay and 
Port Maria. So far, however, as the somewhat scanty 
information warrants one in coming to a conclusion, it 
maybe assumed that Columbus's Santa Gloria was 
probably St. Ann's Bay, and that his Puerto Bueno 
was what is now known as Dry Harbour ; for it is said 
that he called the first port he touched at Santa 
Gloria, that he stayed at Santa Gloria in 1504, that 
Sevilla arose near Santa Gloria — and Sevilla, we are 
told, was near St. Ann's Bay. The horse-shoe shape 
of Puerto Bueno, as well as other evidence, points to 
Dry Harbour as the place of Columbus's first landing 
in Jamaica.* 

It is not here necessary to follow Columbus in his 
further voyaging ; through "The Queen's Garden," as 
he named the islands oflf the southern coast of Cuba, 



* The identification of Puerto Bueno with Dry Harbour is 
dealt with at greater length in " The Story of the Life of 
Columbus and the Discovery of Jamaica." Kingston, 1894. 



Dry Harbour 5 

back to Jamaica, where on the south side he had an 
interview at Old Harbour with an important cacique, 
thence to Isabella, on the north coast of Haiti, and so 
home. 

, Dry Harbour was once again visited by Columbus 
' — on his fourth and last voyage. On his way back 
from the continent while making for Hispaniola for 
succour, as his two worm-eaten caravels were in no 
fit state to cross the Atlantic, after passing the 
Cayman Islands, and encountering a storm at the 
west end of Cuba, he ran for Jamaica, and reached 
Dry Harbour on the 23rd of June, 1503 ; when, finding 
no' water there, he went on to Puerto Santa Gloria 
(St. Ann's Bay) and ran his caravels on the beach in 
a cove, possibly in that which is still called Don 
Christopher's Cove. 

But the story of his stay in that cove of a twelve- 
month, the mutiny of Porras and his follow^ers, the 
incident of the eclipse and the treacherous conduct of 
Escobar, belong to the history of St. Ann's Bay and 
not to that of Dry Harbour. 

That Columbus found water at Puerto Bueno in 
the May of 1494, and none in the June of 1504, may 
be due to the May of the former year having been "a 
wet month, and that of the latter a drv one. 

We can, without much difficulty, picture to our- 
selves the appearance of the island as Columbus first 
saw it, for there are many tracts of virgin forest and 
uncleared bush which must to-day resemble the 
features which they presented to the explorers' of 
1494; and the humblest form oi a modern negro 
house is not, when vicAved from a distance and 



6 Studies in Jamaica History 

through trees, very different in outward appearance 
from the habitation of the Arawak, 

Seen from the sea, the physical features of the 
island were of course what they are to-day. It is 
probable^ that in parts the trees and undergrowth 
were as thick as they were in Guadeloupe, where 
Columbus tells us some of the seamen lost their way 
for days ; and this thick growth was conducive to a 
humid atmosphere, and a less parched appearance in 
the drier seasons. Then, as now, the scene was made 
gay with the anatta, with its rosy-coloured flowers 
and purplish pods, the West Indian ebony with its 
yellow flowers, the pale blue of the lignum-vitae 
bloom, the golden bronze of the under surface of the 
leaves of the star-apple, the hanging purple bunches 
of the bastard cabbage-bark tree, the yellow and 
purple portulacas, the yellow " kill-buckra " weed,* 
the pink shamew^eed, the red and yellow of the 
Barbados pride, the yellow of the Jerusalem thorn, 
the purple pyramid of the mountain pride, and the 
brilliant golden candelabra-like spike of the coratoe ; 
by the various species of ipomoea, with their several 
blooms of white, yellow, red and purple, the rose- 
coloured Jamaica rose, the white trumpet-flower, the 
bright red Indian-shot, the blue Jamaica forget-me- 
not, and many another brilliantly flowered tree, 
creeper and shrub. 

Of animal life in Jamaica, there were amongst the 



^ So called because it flowers after the rainy seasons, when 
fever is prevalent, and when the death-rate used to be relatively 
higher amongst new-comers. ^' Buckra" is the term applied by 
negroes to white men. 



_ .[.. 1 Dry Harbour _ 7 

mammals Djily the coney, which is fast becoming 
extinct,, a mute dog-Hke animal which the Indians 
called ^/(^^j, and of which no trace exists to-day ,_ and 
possibly the rat. It is said that the armadillo was 
once found in all the West India Islands, and_ the 
racoon was here as late as Sir Hans Sloane's visit in 
1687. But. the opossum and. the peccary, though 
formerly in the Caribbean Islands, were not known 
in Jamaica. 

Of bird life there were the same specimens as we 
know them to-day, only in greater profusion, the 
parrot being an especial favourite with the Indians, 
who kept them in their huts and exchanged them for 
hawks' bells and other trifles with the Spaniards. But 
Columbus was probably exaggerating when he said 
that flocks of them hid the sun. Forty-three of the 
birds of Jamaica are presumed to be peculiar to the 
island. They include the wild guinea-bird, the quail, 
the white-belly dove, the bald-pate pigeon, the pea- 
dove, the ground-dove, the mountain witch, the ring- 
tail pigeon, the blue pigeon, the white-wing pigeon, 
the mountain partridge, the two-penny chick, the 
coot, the Jamaica heron, rails, plovers, snipe, ducks of 
many kinds, sandpipers, the pecheeres and parrots. 

Owing to the senseless cruelty and persecution 
Yv^ith which the Spaniards treated the inhabitants 
during the century and a half in which the island 
remained in their possession, the aboriginal race had 
become almost exterminated when the English 
obtained possession in 1655 ; in fact, they were said 
to have been nearly exterminated as early as 1558, 
more than sixty thousand having perished in about 
sixty years. 



8 Studies in Jamaica History 

By all accounts the Arawaks appear to have been, 
as their descendants in Guiana are to-day, of a peace- 
able disposition. The hostile demonstrations which 
were made in 1494 in St. Ann's Bay and Dry 
Harbour were evidently those of a somewhat timid 
people fearing invasion from a fierce foe ; and when 
they found that no harm was intended to them, they 
considered the difterence between the Spaniards and 
their fierce neighbours, the Caribs, so great that they 
thought that the former had come from the skies. 

Judged by the English standard, the Arawaks 
were short. The colour of their skin was veiy red 
cinnamon, their hair was black, thick, long, and very 
straight ; their features were [Mongolian in appearance, 
and the expression gentle and monotonous. The fore- 
head was depressed artificially in youth. Physically 
they were not strong. 

Ornaments were more worn by the men than the 
women. Painting was the simplest form of ornamenta- 
tion, the colours used being blue, black, carmine, 
white and yellow, derived from plants and earths. 
They wore necklets of hogs' teeth and stone beads, 
crowns of feathers in their heads, aprons of palm 
leaves or woven cotton, and bands round their arms 
and legs. Their chief occupations and means cf 
living were hunting and fishing and agricultural 
pursuits, with, in some cases, a certain amount of 
trading. As they required nothing more than canoes 
for travelling on the water, simple houses to live in, 
baskets and earthen A'essels for domestic purposes, 
hammocks for rest, rude weapons of the chase, and 
implements such as stone hatchets and chisels, and a 
few ornaments and articles of dress, these, with a few 



Dry Harbour 9 

crude rock carvings, formed the sum total of their arts 
and manufactures. 

Of these, all that remain to us are examples of 
stone implements and pottery, a few beads, and here 
and there a specimen of rock-carving ; to tell of a 
people who not so very long ago lived by gathering 
the fruits of the land and sea of Jamaica, and so far 
as the arts are concerned seem to have occupied a 
position midway between the natives of Porto Rico 
and those of Florida. 




ARAWAK BOWL. 




GENERAL VEXABLES. 



ADMIRAL PENN. 



Passage Fort 

Passage Fort (at one time called The Passage, from 
its being the place of embarkation for Port Royal) 
situated at the west end of Kingston Harbour, is best 
known as the landing-place of Penn and Venables 
when they took Jamaica. Totally destroyed by the 
earthquake of 1692, the village was but partially 
rebuilt, and was, when Long wrote his history (1774), 
of small importance, consisting of about fifteen houses, 
chiefly inhabited by wharfingers, warehouse-keepers 
and the masters of wherries and hackney chaises, 
which plied with passengers to and from Port Royal 
and Spanish Town. Large ships could not lie along- 
side, as there was not sufficient depth of water ; and 
for this reason it was in a measure superseded by 
Port Henderson, where the depth of water is greater ; 
but with the abandonment of Spanish Town as the 
seat of government, both villages have gradually 



Passage Fort 1 1 

diminished, and Passage Fort is to-day a mere fishing 
hamlet. 

The first appearance of Passage Fort in Jamaica's 
history is due to the fact that an expedition fitted 
out in the Leeward Islands, chiefly from St. Kitts, 
under a certain Colonel Jackson, landed here in 1638. 

The following is Hickeringill's account : — 

'^ About twenty or thirty years ago, this Town was wonne by 
a little Fleet of Englishmen, fitted out from the Chariby Islands^ 
chiefly from St. Kits, under the command of General Jackson, 
who landed about Five Hundred Men at Passage-Fort and 
Fought his way up to the Town [Spanish Town], against Two 
Thousand Spaniards, who still fled before him ; but somewhat 
retarded his Career, by Six or Seven several Brestworks, cast up 
athwart the Road, on purpose to Bulwark this Town (the Jewell 
of this Isle) from such Inroades and sudden Surprizals ; For the 
prevention whereof, they kept continual Watch upon a great 
Hill that overlooks the Sea,* the Harbour, and the Town, from 
whence the Centinells, in the twinkling of an Eye by tokens 
agreed upon, signified the imminency of approaching dangers ; 
As at this time when General Jackson made the On-set ; the 
Strength of the Isle being drawn up on the Shore, before he 
could land his Men ; whom, tho' the Spaniards somewhat 
resisted and at their several Brest-works caus'd them to make 
an unwilling Halt ; yet the fury of Jackson's Men, greedy of 
Spoil, overcame all Difficulties, neglecting Dangers in com- 
parison thereof. Thus with the Loss of Fourty Men forcing 
to the Town, Plundered it, to their no small enrichment. The 
Booty likewise being advanced by a large Fine paid him by the 
Spaniard, on condition the Town might be preserved from 
Burning ; which was accordingly sav'd, and their retreat to the 
Fleet undisturb'd." 

The most important event, however, in the history 
of Passage Fort is the taking of Jamaica by the 
EngHsh in 165 5. t 



* The Healthshire Hills, where Rodney afterwards had his 
look-out. 

t The principal sources of information concerning Penn 
and Venables's expedition are (i.) " A Narrative, by General 



12 Studies in Jamaica History 

After one of the most inexcusable of failurea oa 
Hispaniola (or, to give it its original name, which has 
survived Columbus's designation, Haiti), due in some 
measure to silly jealousy between the naval and mili- 
tary authorities, when, to use Venables's own words, 
passion usurped the seat of reason,* and also to want 
of care on the part of those responsible for the organi- 
sation of the expedition, Penn and Venables, joint 
commanders of an expedition intended to '' assault the 



Venables, of his Expedition to the island of Jamaica," of which 
two MS. copies exist in the British Museum, and which is printed 
in '' Interesting Tracts relating to the Island of Jamaica" (St. 
Jago de la Vega, 1800), in which he answers charges brought 
in I. S.'s pamphlet mentioned below ; this " narrative," with 
'' an appendix of papers relating to the expedition to the West 
Indies and the conquest of Jamaica, 1654-165 5," was edited for 
the Royal Historical Society, by C. H. Firth, M.A,, in 1900 ; 
(ii.) '' A Journal of Admiral Penn's Expedition to the West 
Indies in 1654-55," by Henry Whistler, printed in the " Journal 
of the Institute of Jamaica," Vol. I. (Kingston, 1894) ; (iii.) "A 
Brief and Perfect Journal " of the English Army in the West 
Indies in 1655, by I. S. (London, 1655), reprinted in the 
^'Journal of the Institute of Jamaica," V^ol. II. (Kingston, 1899) ; 
(iv.) *' Memorials of the Professional Life and Times of Sir 
Wilham Penn . . . from 1644 to 1670," by Granville Penn 
(London, 1833) ; (v.) '' Memoir of Col. Robert Venables," 
prefaced to an edition of "The Experienced Angler" (London, 
1825); (vi.) "An Account of the Jamaica Expedition," by 
Colonel Francis Barrington, printed in the 7th Report of the 
Historical Manuscripts Commission ; (vii.) A series of five 
anonymous letters in the Rawlinson MSS. in the Bodleian 
Library, reprinted in the appendix to Firth's edition of Venables's 
narrative : as well as Thurloe, and the Calendar of State Papers. 
* This jealousy was not lessened by the fact that Venables 
was named first in the preamble to the Commission, and Penn 
first in the body of the document. Penn was also named first 
in the Instructions to the Commis:rion. Each was jealous 
of the other ; and the bitterness continued even when they were 
fellow-prisoners in the Tower, of their committal to which it had 
probably been one of the main causes. 



Passage Fort 13 

Spaniard in the West Indies," entered what we now- 
call Kingston Harbour on the loth of May, 1655, and 
anchored about 1 1 a.m. On nearing the island, it had 
been proclaimed to the whole army, as a result of the 
cowardice displayed in the attack on Hispaniola, that 
whoever should be found to turn his back to the 
enemy and run away, the next officer (that brought 
up the rear of that division) should immediately run 
him through, on penalty of death if he failed to do it. 

There were thirty-eight ships in the three 
squadrons, and about seven thousand troops, without 
counting the sea regiment, who numbered nearly one 
thousand more.* 
- The flag of Admiral Penn flew on the " Swiftsure.^'t 

The troops, both English and Colonial, were ad- 
mittedly none of the best, some of them being described 
by one of their number as " Hectors and Knights of 
the blade, with common Cheats, Theeves, Cutpurses, 
and such like lewd persons who had long time lived by 
the slight of hand and dexterity of wat, and were now 
making a fair progresse unto Newgate^ from whence 
they were to proceed towards Tiborn . . . some sloath- 
full and theevish servants likewise (to avoid the punish- 



* About 2,500 troops left England. At Barbados were added 
between 3,oco and 4,000 men, raised in the island, and about 
1,200 from the Leeward Islands (chiefly St. Kitt's). This 
employment of Colonial troops for Imperial purposes in the 
middle of the seventeenth century forms an interesting fore- 
runner of that of the close of the nineteenth. A sea regiment of 
about 1,200 was also formed from the sailors of the fleet. The 
losses at Hispaniola were about 1,000. 

t She was built at Deptford in 1621. Length of keel, 118 ft.; 
breadth of beam^ 37 ft. She was taken by the Dutch on 
June 2nd, 1666. 



14 Studies in Jamaica History 

ment of the Law, and coveting a yet more idle life) 
followed after in the same path.'' A general officer, 
not of the expedition, called them " (except some few 
trusty officers) the very sweepings of some part of 
England." To these were luckily added, from some 
of the "old standing regiments," such as were newly 
enlisted. 

Even the English soldiers were all personally un- 
known to the general, who had in vain requested that 
men from the Irish army should be sent. One of the 
expedition was of opinion that there was not above 
one thousand old soldiers in the army. Venables's 
/r^V^/'^/jz-expressed opinion of the army was " unruly 
raw soldiers, the major part ignorant, lazy, dull — 
officers that have a large portion of pride, but 
not of wit, valour, or activity." They had, moreover, 
been on half rations since they had left Barbados, 
gwing to insufficiency in the supplies. In addition to 
this, the number of arms and ammunition supplied 
was inadequate. 

: The ships came to an anchor in fifty fathoms of 
water, and Penn, fearing, as Captain Butler (one of 
the Commissioners in charge of the expedition) tells 
us, after the experience of Hispaniola, to trust the 
conduct of the attack to the army, ordered the 
Martin galley — one of the smallest of the fleet, 
carrying but twelve guns and sixty men — to run up 
into the harbour as far as she could, supported by all 
the small ships which could follow her. This was 
done. The Martin anchored within shot of the 
principal breastwork (or fort) and exchanged a hot 
fire with it, but with little result on either side : a 
musket fire being kept up by two smaller breastworks. 







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Passage Fort 15 

Penn aiid Venables hastened up in a boat and boarded 
the Martin, which was soon surrounded by boats 
filled with troops ready to land. ;^ 

Penn then ordered Vessey, the commander of the 
Martin, to run her ashore as near the breastwork 
as he could ;' the troops at the same time to follow in 
their boats. j : 

A: few shots fired into the fort from the Martin, 
and the landing of the troops, seem to have sufficed 
to disperse the Spaniards, whose best soldier, a major, 
had been disabled by a shot. . They left three guns 
mounted in the fort.* Venables, instead of leading 
the troops, was. Whistler tells us, ''walking aboard of 
the ' ilartin ' wrapped up in his cloak, with his hat 
over his eyes, looking as if he had been a studying of 
physics more than like a general of an army." It is 
a little difficult to reconcile this with the testimony of 
Captain Daniel How, who says that Venables carried 
'' himself like a godly, valiant, discreet general, 
exposing himself to the greatest danger " ; or with 
that of other of his officers, or, indeed, with the letter 
of Penn and the Commissioners describing the attempt 
on Hispaniola. In excuse for any backwardness on 
his part at Jamaica, it may be said that Venables was 
suffering from ill-health consequent on the fatigues of 
the attempt at Hispaniola, and from mortification at 
the ill-result, added to lack of faith in his soldiers and 
fear for the safety of his newly-married second wife, 
who was with him on the Paragon. 

The troops did not take advantage of this success, 
and follow the Spaniards, but drew up in battle array ; 

1* Another account savs fourteen cruns. 



1 6 Studies in Jamaica History 

and when Venables landed, at three o'clock in the 
afternoon, he decided, in spite of the decision to the 
contrary of a council specially held, to encamp there 
for the night ; and the next day St. Jago de la Vega, 
six miles distant, was entered without opposition.* 

Under plea of considering the terms of peace 
imposed by Venables, the Spaniards gained time in 
which to transport such riches as they possessed to 
the north side of the island ; and so, in spite of having 
signed the agreement forfeiting all their belongings, 
they got away, taking all that they could with them. 



* The following is Barrington's account of the landing :— 
" The army coming within shot of the shore, we discovered the 
enemy standing there ready (as it was supposed) to receive us, 
for they let fly their great shot at us ; upon which, not knowing 
what opposition w^e might receive, it w^as ordered that a small 
friggott should run as close as possible to the shore ; accordingly 
it did, and made some very good shots at the enemy, which did 
dishearten them ; then our men rowed on towards the shore 
(the enemy not further opposing) ; and when they came w^ithin 
call (our men not firing) one of the enemy spoke and asked of 
us what Ave came thither for ; it w^as answered him for fresh 
meat and pieces of eight [Spanish silver coins of the value of 
5 J", currency (3^-, 10^. sterling)] ; the Spaniard replied Ave Avere 
Avelcome, but one amongst them, speaking veiy good English 
(an Englishman, I conceive), bid us land if Ave durst, making 
some shoAv and standing in defiance. The army immediately 
landed Avithout the loss of a man, for indeed the enemy made no 
further opposition than the fore-mentioned great shots (which 
did no execution upon us), but run clearly away in great disorder, 
leaving their great guns behind them ; this Avas a wonderful 
mercy to us that the enemy had such a terror in their spirits, 
being exceedingly more considerable than those of Hispaniola 
Avhich made such a slaughter upon us, and the advantage this 
enemy had Avas of much more A'alue than theirs, these have a 
fort to shelter them Avith great guns, and Ave in boats to fight for 
our landing, Avhereas the others Avere but an ambuscade, Ave 
having an advantage equivalent had Ave been careful in the 
ordering of our forlorns ; if this enemy had opposed us, I 
question much Avhere Ave had now been." 



Passage Fort 17 

Thus Jamaica was captured by a wretched army 
without the loss of a man. Colonel Clarke, who had 
died at sea on the 9th from wounds received at 
Hispaniola, was buried at Passage Fort on the 
nth — possibly the first EngHshman to be buried in 
Jamaica, for it is not likely that Jackson stopped to 
bury his dead in 1638. 

The Spaniards left a " considerable fort, with six 
or seven guns in it," about half a mile from St. Jago 
de la Vega. 

It is interesting to note, en passant, that Venables, 
in sending from the town to the fleet, forwarded to 
Penn, who was attending to the careening and repair 
of his ships, a present in the shape of a parrot. 

The following account, signed " W. B.," and written 
probably by William Burrows, who was Sir William 
Penn's chief clerk in the Navy Office after the Restora- 
ation, is taken from the journal of the '' Swiftsure '': — 

" The landing-places are two, and are only banks supported 
with stakes, a matter of twenty yards long towards the water ; all 
the rest being trees and bushes, among which can be no good 
going ashore. At the more eastward, where we landed, we saw 
the ordnance the Spaniards left ; the army having landed at the 
other, within that to the westward. A pretty parcel of ground 
is cleared within the landing-places. About a furlong and a 
half thence, the way leads into the wood, which continues till 
within a quarter of a mile of the town ; all the way being even, 
without hills, and a fair path for eight to march abreast. At 
the issuing out of the wood begins the Savanna, which stretches 
about, and is very fair and plain to the westward of the tow^n ; 
so that I deemed there might be room enough for 50,000 men 
to draw up in battalia. The town stands on almost plain 
ground, but a little inclining towards the east, for the better 
fall of the rains down into the river, which is very shallow, and 
runs a pretty distance below the town, and empties itself into 
the arm of the sea that branches out of the harbour to the west- 
ward ; there being another arm within the harbour, where the 
fleet rode (which is very safe and land-locked) to the eastward, 
that runs up at least three leagues, which Capt. Femes, who 
went to sound it, says is capable to a thousand ships. . . ." 

C 



1 8 Studies in Jamaica History 

The Rio Cobre has since the conquest of the 
island brought down so much sand and deposited it 
at its mouth, that the site of Passage Fort is now 
some four or five hundred yards off the sea. In dry 
weather, the Rio Cobre now meanders across the 
beach to the sea, giving no idea of the power which 
it acquires in the rainy season. Here, as of old, is 
there " no good going ashore," the slope of the beach 
being very gradual. 

Richard Hill, in his ^^A Week at Port Royal'' 
(185s), says:— 

^^ The early maps of Saint Catherine's show that there have 
occurred deviations in the course of the Rio Cobre, that are not 
easily to be reconciled by abundant rains. Antecedent to the 
disco veiy of the West Indies, the embouchure of the river was 
perceptively in the ponds, shut in by the narrow belt of land on 
which Fort Augusta stands, the river having been at that time 
more of a surface stream and striking to the sea due south; the 
outlet curving northward and embaying passage Fort. - At the 
time of the conquest of the island by the English, the river 
flowed in an opposite direction due north, coursing the foot of 
the Caymanas mountains and making the present lagoons in 
the upper part of that plain its channel, seeking the sea south- 
tuard, through what is now an independent stream, called the 
Ferry-river (Fresh river). In 1722, in the midst of an extra- 
ordinar}^ rain-storm, this channel was suddenly quitted, and a 
straight line made eastward. The settling waters as they 
reached the harbour of Kingston, impeded by the easterly winds, 
regurgitated through the lakelet into which they gathered 
themselves, and digging out the soil at the foot of the mountains, 
made the present lagoons, increasing the sea-bord lands of 
Hunt's Bay 3,000 feet (three thousand)." 

The following notes on the lives of the two men 
who captured Jamaica for England may prove of 
interest : — 

Sir William Penn, admiral and general-at-sea, was 
born at Bristol in 1621. He was educated forthesea, 
and served at first in the merchant service. About 



Passage Fort 19 

1639 he married Margaret Jasper, of Rotterdam. 
His first recorded command in the navy was in 1644, 
when he was appointed to the Fellowship (28 guns) 
of the Irish Fleet, used in the defence of the western 
ports of England and of the protestant interests in 
Ireland, in which fleet he continued till 1650, rising 
to the rank of vice-admiral of Ireland. In 1650-51 
he commanded a squadron of eight ships on service 
in the Mediterranean (the first English fleet of war 
that penetrated as far as Malta since the times of the 
Crusades) in search of Prince Rupert, which, however, 
proved fruitless. In 1652-53 he was vice-admiral 
of England and admiral in command first of the 
blue squadron and then of the white, under three 
landsmen, Monck, Blake and Deane, in the war with 
the Dutch, in which fighting in line superseded the 
old ^' board and board" method. In the fight of 
June 2-3, 1653, Penn was engaged with Tromp, who 
was only saved by the assistance of De Witt and 
De Ruyter. In December of the same year, Penn 
was associated with Blake, Monck and Disbrowe, as 
general-of-the-fleet in the place of Deane, who was 
killed. Penn was the only sailor who ever held this 
office. Now that the war with Holland was ended, 
his allegiance to the exiled king asserted itself, and 
he offered Charles to take to any port he might 
name the fleet destined for the West Indies, which 
he shortly after was appointed to command, in 
December, 1654. Charles, however, thinking the 
occasion inopportune, directed him to proceed on 
his voyage. 

After the failure of one of the chief objects of the 
expedition, the capture of Hispaniola, Penn and 

C ? 



20 Studies in Jamaica History 

Venables and two of the three civil commissioners 
appointed to advise with them (Edward Winslow,* 
and Gregory Butlerf), judging it needful to try 
to raise the soldiers by some success in a small 
exploit, resolved to attempt some other plantation, 
and at last Jamaica was pitched on to be the 
place. 

Soon after the capture of Jamaica, Penn left for 
England on the 25th of June, reaching Spithead on 
the 31st of August. He was committed to the Tower, 
ostensibly for coming home without leave, but probably 
because of the lack of hearty co-operation between 
himself and Venables, and Cromwell's disappointment 
at the poor result of the expedition when compared 
with what had been anticipated. On submission, he 
was released, but dismissed the service : he retired to 
Ireland, where he plotted with the royalists for the 
Restoration. In 1660, he sat in the Convention 
Parliament for Weymouth : he went with Montagu on 
the Naseby, to fetch Charles II. from Scheveningen, 
where he was knighted by the king on the occasion 
of his rechristening the Naseby the Royal Charles, 
and appointed commissioner for the navy, and the 
governor of the castle and fort of Kinsale. He sat in the 
next parliament : he was much associated with Pepys, 
who, however, in his ^' Diary " is by no means com- 
plimentary to him— rogue being one of the mildest of 
the epithets applied to him by that worthy. In 1665 
he was great captain commander (afterwards called 



* Winslow had had considerable colonial experience as 
governor of New Plymouth. 

t The other civil commissioner, Daniell Searle, governor of 
Barbados, did not personally accompany the expedition. 



Passage Fort 21 

captain of the fleet) on the Duke of York's ship 
Royal Charles in the Dutch war, in the conduct 
of which he played a principal part. When the 
Duke of York gave up his command, Penn left 
the sea also. In 1667-68 he was master of the 
Trinity House. He died in 1670. William Penn, 
the founder of Pennsylvania, was his eldest son. 
By becoming a quaker, he ruined his father's 
chance of a peerage, which had been promised 
to him. 

General Robert Venables, a member of an old 
Cheshire family, was born in that county about 161 2. 
He entered the parliamentary army on the outbreak 
of the civil war, and served in Yorkshire and 
Lancashire, being wounded at the siege of Chester. 
From 1649 to 1654 he did good service with the 
Cromwellian forces in Ireland. In the latter year he 
was appointed general of the forces sent to attack the 
Spaniards in the West Indies. 

After the departure of Penn from Jamaica on 
June the 25th, 1655, Venables followed in the 
Marston Moor on the 4th of July, prompted in part 
by a desire not to be forestalled by Penn in his 
account of the expedition, especially the failure on 
Hispaniola. His own ill health — for he very nearly 
died in Jamaica — and the necessity for representing 
the needs of the army were, however, his ostensible 
reasons. He reached Portsmouth on the 9th of 
September, appeared before the Council on the 20th, 
and was immediately, in common with Penn, com- 
mitted to the Tower for leaving his command 
without permission. Mr. Firth says truly : '' For 



22 Studies in Jamaica History 

his mistakes at Hispaniola and other errors he might 
justly have been called to account, but to condemn him 
for leaving Jamaica, when he was incapable of further 
service, was the height of injustice." On the 30th of 
October he was released on surrendering his general's 
commission and his command in Ireland, which had 
been kept for him while he was away in the West 
Indies. He was never again employed by Cromwell ; 
and in 1659 he was won over to the royalist cause, 
but there is no good reason to believe in the truth of 
the tradition that he had intended four years earlier 
to use his West Indian army in favour of the exiled 
king. He was appointed by Monk governor of 
Chester in February, 1660, but he obtained nothing 
at the Restoration. He died in 1687. 

He was twice married. His first wife was 
Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Rudyard, of Rudyard, 
Staffordshire. His second wife, whom he married in 
1654, was Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Lee, of 
Darnhall, and daughter of Samuel Aldersey. B\^ 
accompanying him on his voyage to the West Indies, 
she gave rise to unpleasant criticism on her husband 
and to sarcasm on the part of Hickeringill. But 
Venables when he started evidently had it in mind 
to settle in the West Indies. 

His wife apparently kept a journal of the voyage ; 
but it is not now in existence : her autobiography 
ends with her second marriage. 

Venables, in 1662, published ''The Experienced 
Angler, or Angling Improved," to which a letter b\^ 
Isaac Walton is prefaced. 



Carlisle Bay 

Carlisle Bay, the scene of the principal military 
engagement with a foreign foe which has taken place 
in Jamaica during the British occupation, is on the 
south-west coast of the old parish of Vere,* now 
merged in the parish of Clarendon.! 

A ^' Narrative of the Descent on Jamaica by the 
French/':]: by Sir William Beeston, is in the MSS. 
Department of the British Museum. From it much 
of the following account is taken. 

For some time prior to the engagement at Carlisle 
Bay, the owners of the plantations on the seaboard of 
Jamaica had been much distressed by descents by 
French privateers (aided in some cases by disaffected 
persons from the island itself, who threw in their 
lot with them) from San Domingo and the Leeward 



* Named after A^ere, daughter of Sir Edward Herbert, 
attorney-general to Charles L, and first wife of Sir Thomas 
Lynch, governor of this island in 1682-4. 

t Named after the celebrated Chancellor, Edward Hyde, 
first Earl of Clarendon. 

X It is printed in '' Interesting Tracts relating to the Island 
of Jamaica," St. Jago de la Vega, 1800. A letter from the 
Council in England in answer to his narrative is also in the 
British ^Museum. Beeston came to the island in 1660, was 
employed in various pubHc capacities, and was lieutenant- 
governor from 1693 to 1700, and thenceforward governor til 
1702: he is chiefly famous for the defence which he made, 
together with Colonel Long, against the attempt by Lord 
Carlisle to assimilate the government of Jamaica to that of 
Ireland. 



24 Studies in Jamaica History 

Islands, who plundered and murdered as occasion 
offered. Captain Du Casse,* the Governor of San 
Domingo, being informed by two renegade Irishmen 
that the " island was easily taken ; the fortifications 
at Port Royal were out of order and few men there, 
so that two hundred men would take that place, and 
two hundred more would march in any part of the 
country, the people were so thin and so little used to 
arnis," and being reinforced by three men-of-war 
from France, decided to make a descent on the 
island. In the meantime a Captain Elliot, of Jamaica, 
who had been taken prisoner into Petit Goave, on the 
west coast of San Domingo, by French privateers, 
managed to escape to Jamaica in a small canoe and 
give timely warning on the 31st of May, 1694, that 
Du Casse himself with twenty sail and three thousand 
men was coming to take the island. For this he was 
subsequently rewarded by William III. with a gold 
chain and medal of one hundred pounds value, and 
five hundred pounds in money. 

Upon the receipt of Elliot's news, the House of 
Assembly, which was then sitting, was adjourned for 
one month, a council of war was called together, 
martial law proclaimed, and every officer ordered to 
his post. Colonel Beckford (grandfather of the 
celebrated Lord Mayor of London), who was in 
command at Port Royal, got Fort Charles into 
excellent order, and fortified the town. A fort also 
was built in the Parade at Kingston, the pass by 



* He was governor of San Domingo in 1691 ; c/ie/ d''escadre 
in 1700. In 1702 he fought the engagement with Benbow,. 
which resulted in the latter's death. 



Carlisle Bay 25 

Rock Fort to the east of Kingston was guarded, 
and breastworks were erected at Old Harbour and 
Carlisle Bay. Beeston, realising that it was hopeless 
with the forces at command to try to protect all his 
coast line, decided to defend the strongest parts, and 
drew all the forces from the out ports into St. Dorothy,* 
St. Catherine, St. Andrew and Port Royal, and 
'' some few " were left to defend the breastwork at 
Carlisle Bay. The people from St. Thomas and 
St. David, the most exposed positions, were called 
into St. Andrew and Kingston. 

At Fort William and Port ^lorant the guns were 
spiked, the shot buried and the powder brought away. 

The French fleet, consisting of three men-of-war 
and twenty-three transports, appeared in the ofling on 
the 17th of June.t Rollon, the admiral, sailed in the 
Temeraire,J of fifty-four guns. Eight ships stayed 
about Port Morant, but the remainder went into Cow 
Bay, near Yallahs, where they laid waste the country, 
plundered the houses, murdered what inhabitants 
they could find, and generally behaved with barbarity. ' 

Returning to Port Morant, several vessels went 
to the north side and burnt plantations in St. Mary 
and St. George, § until they were driven off by troops 
sent from the south side. An attack by sixty men 
from the Temeraire at Bluefields was also successfully 
beaten off. 



* A parish that is now merged in St. Catherine. 

t Labat, in his '' Xouveau Voyage" (1742), says in error that 
they set sail on the i6th of August. 

% The predecessor of the ship which Turner immortahzed 
by his picture now in the National Gallery. 

§ Now part of Portland. 



26 Studies in Jamaica History 

On July 15th the fleet, having done all the 
damage it could in the neighbourhood of Port 
Morant, set sail, and, after reconnoitring Port Royal, 
put into Cow Bay the next day. Fearing an attack 
on Kingston by land, Beeston sent a hundred men 
from St. Catherine to reinforce the troops guarding 
the Windward Road ; but on the morning of tl.e 
1 8th Beeston saw seventeen ships making, as he 
rightly judged, for Carlisle Bay, thirty-six miles from 
Spanish Town. He took prompt action. He sent 
to Carlisle Bay two troops of horse, and parts of the 
regiments of St. Catherine, Clarendon and St. 
Elizabeth, the foot to be mounted on what horses 
they could find. The cavalry and the mounted 
infantry got there that night, and those on foot 
'' marched so hard " that they arrived by ten the 
next morning. The enemy had anchored in Carlisle 
Bay on the afternoon of the i8th. The commander 
of a ship from Guinea, which happened to be in the bay, 
set her on fire to save her from the enemy, and went 
with his men to help in the defence of the breastwork. 

Into this breastwork, which was commanded by 
Colonel Sutton, of Clarendon, who had constructed it, 
were packed two hundred and fifty men, in addition 
to negroes, being those of the several regiments 
that had come during the night. Beeston tells us 
that the fort was ill made and worse contrived. 
" On the south was the sea, on the west a large river 
[the Rio Minho], on the north a village of houses 
[Carlisle], and on the east they had left a wood 
standing,^' which formed a natural covert for the 
enemy. They also failed to lay in provisions for either 
men or horse ! 



Carlisle Bay 27 

By daylight on the morning of the 19th the enemy 
had landed about fourteen or fifteen hundred men 
about a mile and a half to the east of the breastwork,* 
where the small guard, after firing on them, retreated 
to the breastwork, which the French attacked so hotly 
that the defenders had to retreat over the river, not, 
however, before they had fought bravely and killed 
many of the enemy. Amongst the killed were 
Colonel Claybourn, of the St. Elizabeth regiment, 
his captain. Lieutenant Vassel, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Smart, of the Clarendon regiment, and Lieutenant 
Dawkins ; Captain Dawkins and Captain Fisher were 
made prisoners ; about four colours were lost, and all 
the horses. 

Just as the French forced the breastwork three 
or four companies of the St. Catherine regiment and 
one of the St. Elizabeth and some horse came in, 
weary, footsore and hungry with their march of about 
thirty-six miles from Spanish Town. Yet they fell on 
bravely on the right of the enemy, and charged them 
so warmly that they not only prevented them from 
pursuing the party that had crossed the river, but 
made them retire. 

-Nothing but skirmishes took place till Sunday, 
the 22nd, when the French marched upwards till they 
came to the house of a certain Mr. Hubbard,! which 

* This Labat calls a fort. He calls Carlisle Bay ^' Ouation." 
t Local tradition says that this stood where Gales, a hamlet 
on St. Jago estate, now is. Bridges, in his "Annals"' (1828), 
says : " The brick house, in which so gallant a stand was made, 
remains with the shot visible in its walls, and a solitary cotton 
tree in the road from the Abbey [sic. Alley] to Carlisle Bay still 
marks the rallying point of the English, and the grave of many 
a valiant soldier." 



28 Studies in Jamaica History 

was garrisoned with twenty men, and well provisioned. 
An attack on this house by the French resulted in the 
loss of several of their best officers, as the besieged were 
aided by a detachment from the Bay. On hearing that 
a more determined attack was intended on the morrow, 
Major Richard Lloyd, who was chosen to command, 
put fifty men into the house and prepared an 
ambuscade. But the French, finding that they had 
lost so many of their officers and men, and that 
they could not penetrate further into the country, 
contented themselves with firing the small town of 
Carlisle, spiking the guns and doing what mischief 
they could, and then retreated to their ships. 

On Tuesday, the 24th, the whole fleet sailed — Du 
Casse and two or three ships going straight back to San 
Domingo, the rest staying only to put into Port Morant 
to wood and water and land prisoners. And thus ended 
the most serious attempt at the capture of Jamaica ever 
made upon its shores during the English occupation. 

A chief result of it was the retaliatory expedition, 
under Captain Wilmot and Colonel Lillingston, which 
did considerable damas^e in San Domini in the 
following year. 

Beeston estimates that the French lost on the 
expedition, by their different engagements and sick- 
ness, about seven hundred men : of these about three 
hundred and fifty were killed at Carlisle Bay. On 
the English side one hundred were killed or 
wounded * ; but fifty sugar-works were destroyed 
and many plantations burnt, and about thirteen 



* Labat puts the French loss down at one hundred and fifty 
only ! 



Carlisle Bay 29 

hundred negroes carried off. Du Casse received a 
pension of one hundred pistoles per annum. 

A sum of ;^4000 was received as a royal bounty 
to the sufferers by the French invasion. When called 
upon by the House of Assembly to account for it, 
Beeston declined : and the House, refusing to proceed 
with business, was dissolved by him. The matter, 
however, was subsequently satisfactorily explained. 
Beeston's name still lives in Beeston Street, Kingston. 

In consequence of this descent of the French, the 
Government set to work to guard the coast as well as 
it could, and Carlisle Fort was built the following 
year. When Leslie wrote in 1740 '' A New History 
of Jamaica," the fort was *^ now in ruins and little 
regarded." All that is left of it is shown in the 
accompanying sketch. 

When Long wrote his "History" in 1774, the 
town of Carlisle, so called in honour of the Earl of 
Carlisle, who was governor in 1678-80, was only a 
hamlet of ten or twelve houses near the mouth of the 
Rio Minho, or, as it is sometimes called, the Dry 
River. Now all that is left is Carlisle estate, and 
one house at the Bay. 

As the mouth of the river is known to have moved 
of late years considerably further to the east, it is 
probably about the site of this house, now about half 
a mile from the river mouth, that the French landed. 

In those days the parish of Vere, which was 
formerly called Withywood, was very thickly wooded. 
Later, the trees were cut down to make way for the 
sugar-cane, which still holds its own, and only awaits 
a central factory and irrigation to, possibly, once more 
make Vere the richest part of Jamaica. 



King's House, Spanish Town 

When the English took possession of Jamaica, they 
found the Spanish capital established at St. Jago de 
la Vega. The town was probably called de la Vega, 
not only because of its being in a plain, but also to 
distinguish it from the other St. Jago — St. Jago de 
Cuba, in the neighbouring island. The number of 
houses in it was, if the estimates are true, no less 
than seventeen hundred, or even two thousand, many 
of which are said to have been — needlessly, it would 
seem — destroyed by the English soldiery. When 
Long wrote in 1774, there were about five hundred 
inhabited by white people, and seven hundred by 
negroes. Though the English adopted Spanish 
Town for their capital, the need of fortifying the 
harbour led to the development of Port Royal, the 
foundation of which was laid by General Brayne in 
1657 ; and that town was for a time the residence of 
the governor and the place where the Council 
sometimes met. At St. Jago de la Vega, however, 
the House of Assembly always met, and there the 
governors resided after the earthquake at Port Royal 
in 1692, till that great reformer. Sir John Peter 
Grant, transferred the government to Kingston in 
1870, accomplishing permanently what Admiral 
Knowles had done in 1755 ineffectually; for three 



King's House, Spanish Town 31 

years later (1758) metropolitan dignity was restored 
to Spanish Town by royal command. 

Previous to the building of King's House, the 
governors apparently lived at whatever house they 
chose — e.g.y the Earl of Inchiquin is said to have 
lived in Eagle House, or, as the negroes call it, 
'^John Crow House." 

The former official residence of the governors of 
Jamaica, or King's House, as it is called, stands on 
the west side of a square. The plan was designed by 
Craskell, the engineer of the island, and approved 
during the administration of Lieutenant-Governor 
Henry Moore in 1759-62 ; but the building was not 
completed till the arrival of the Governor, William 
Henry Lyttelton in 1762. 

The expense of building and furnishing amounted 
to nearly ;^30,000 currency (or £21,428 sterling), and 
in Long's time {ci7ra 1774) it was ^'thought to be the 
noblest and best edifice of the kind, either in North 
America or any of the British colonies in the West 
Indies." The fagade is about 200 feet long ; the 
free-stone used in the construction came from the 
Hope River course in St. Andrew. The columns 
supporting the portico are of Portland stone, the 
pavement of white marble. The following is Long's 
description of the interior : — 

" Two principal entrances lead through it into the body of 
the house ; the one opens into a lobby, or ante-chamber ; the 
other, into the great saloon, or hall of audience, which is well 
proportioned, the dimensions being about seventy-three by 
thirty feet, and the height about thirty-t\vo ; from the cieling, 
which is coved, hang two brass gilt lustres. A screen, of seven 
large Doric pillars, divides the saloon from an upper and lower 
gallery of communication, which range the whole length on the 
West side ; and the upper one is secured with an elegant 



32 Studies in Jamaica History 

entrelas of figured iron work. The East or opposite side of the 
saloon is finished with Doric pilasters ; upon each of which are 
brass girandoles double-gilt ; and between each pilaster, under 
the windows of the Attic story, are placed, on gilt brackets, the 
busts of several ancient and modern philosophers and poets, 
large as life ; which being in bronze, the darkness of their 
complexion naturally suggests the idea of so many Negroe 
Caboceros, exalted to this honourable distinction for some 
peculiar services rendered to the country. At the North end, 
over a door which opens into the lobby, is a small moveable 
orchestra, made to hold a band of music on festive occasions. 
The furniture below consists of a great number of mahogany 
chairs and settees, sufficient to accommodate a large company ; 
this room being chiefly used for public audiences, entertain- 
ments, balls, and the hearings of chancery and ordinary. At 
the South end are three folding doors, opening into a spacious 
apartment, in which, by the governor's permission, the council 
usually meet ; whence it has received the name of the council- 
chamber. . . . Above the council-chamber is a banqueting- 
room, or drawing-room, of the same size, hung with paper, and 
neatly furnished. This room communicates with the upper 
gallery and a back stair-case, and enjoys a view of the saloon 
through some windows ranging with those of the Attic story : 
it is seldom used, except on public days, and is perfectly well- 
calculated for the purpose. These different apartments take up 
about one-half of the whole building. The room over the lobby, 
being somewhat darkened by the pediment of the portico, was 
converted by Governor Lyttelton into a chapel for private 
devotions. It is neatly fitted up, and with great propriety 
adapted to this use. The Northern division of the house 
consists of three large rooms below, communicating with each 
other, and with a long gallery ; all of which are handsomely 
furnished and well-lighted : this gallery has commonly been 
used either for public suppers, when balls were given in the 
hall, or as a sheltered and retired walk in wet weather. The 
upper story is disposed in a suite of chambers, divided by a 
long narrow gallery from a range of smaller apartments or 
closets, intended for lodging the governor and part of his 
household. The two Northernmost rooms above and below are 
provided with a chimney, and all the necessary apparatus for a 
good fire, which in the rainy seasons is healthy and not 
disagreeable. In this new building are three stair-cases, all of 
which are private ; a circumstance, perhaps, overlooked when 
the plan was drawn, and not more attended to when it came to 
be executed : yet there is sufficient space in the lobby for carrying 
up a very magnificent central one, answerable to the other parts 








< 

in 



King's House, Spanish Town 33 

of so capital a structure ; and this no doubt will, some time or 
other, be added as a necessary improvement to compleat it. 
Behind is a small square garden, laid out in dry walks, and 
planted with Seville orange, genip, and other fruit-trees, with 
some flowering shrubs intermixed ; but it is not as well 
cultivated as to merit a further description." 

Monk Lewis writing in 1834 says : "The Govern- 
ment House is a large clumsy-looking brick building 
with a portico, the stucco of which has suffered by 
the weather, and it can advance no pretensions to 
architectural beauty." And with this criticism one 
must fain agree. 

With the removal of the seat of government, the 
remaining glory departed from Spanish Town. With 
the exception of the year 1873, when it was utilised, 
for a little more than a twelvemonth, by Queen's 
College, of which the late Grant Allen was one of the 
staff. King's House has been practically empty. 

Rodney's statue, it is true, has been recaptured 
from Kingston, whither it was taken by Sir John 
Peter Grant, but Metcalfe's statue is left behind. 

Jamaica's former capital is like one of her bridges, 
which now and again, through the change of a river- 
course, is left to span a dry passage. 

Charles Leslie, in his " New and Exact Account of 
Jamaica" (Edinburgh, 1740), says of Spanish Town: — 

"Being an inland Place its Trade is inconsiderable, but several 
wealthy Merchants reside there, and the most of Gentlemen of 
Estates have Houses. They live after a ver}^ gay Manner : 'tis 
surprising to see the Number of Coaches and Chariots which are 
perpetually plying, besides these which belong to private 
Persons ; they have frequent Balls, and lately have got a Play- 
house, where they retain a Set of extraordinary good Actors. In 
short they live as happily as if they were within the verge of the 
British Court : And to do them Justice, they seem perfectly 
polite and have a Delicacy of Behaviour which is exceeding 
taking." 

D 



34 Studies in Jamaica History 

Dr. Houstoun, in his " Memoirs/' published in 
1753, thus describes Spanish Town : — 

'^ The Houses of this Town, which is the Court of Jamaica, 
suffered greatly [in the Hurricane of 1744], as they are very 
meanly built. If I was to describe them truly, I could only say, 
the People live in the King's High-way, with a Cover over them 
to protect them a little from the Sun and Rain : for the Piazzas, 
which are the most useful Part of their Houses, are in the King's 
High-way, the publick Street : so that every body that passes has 
the same Freedom of looking into your House as the Possessor of 
it ; yet these Huts let much dearer than fine Houses in London.'^ 

In Long's time a new governor was usually 
feasted for three successive days in Spanish Town : 
after which he was wont to make a kind of public 
entry into Kingston, where more festivities were got 
up in his honour — the two towns vying the one with 
the other. 

During the reign of Queen Victoria, King's House 
— in common with its younger rival in the plain of 
Liguanea — has remained King's House, and has not 
changed its name to Queen's House, as have the 
official residences of other British colonies. 

The following is a list of governors who have 
inhabited King's House, Spanish Town : — 

1756 — Lieut.- Governor : Henry Moore, Esq. 

1759 — Governor : General George Haldane. 

1759 — Lieut.- Governor : Henry Moore, Esq. 

1762 — Governor : William Henry Lyttelton, Esq. 

1766 — Lieut.-Governor : Roger Hope Elletson, Esq. 

1768 — Governor : Sir Wilham Trelawny, Bart. 

1772 — Lieut.-Governor : Lieut.-Colonel John Bailing. 

1774 — Governor : Sir Basil Keith, Knt. 

1777— Lieut.-Governor : Colonel John Dalhng. 

1778 — Governor : Major-General (afterwards Sir John) Balling. 

1 78 1 — Lieut.-Governor : Major-General A. Campbell. 

1783 — Governor : Major-General A. Campbell. 

1784 — Lieut.-Governor : Brigadier-General Alured Clarke. 



King's House, Spanish. Town 35 

1790 — Governor : Thomas, Earl of Effingham. 

1791 — Lieut.-Governor : Major-General (afterwards Sir Adam) 

Williamson. 
1795 — Lieut.-Governor : Alexander, Earl of Balcarres. 
1 80 1 — Lieut.-Governor : Lieut.-General (afterwards Sir George) 

Nugent. 
1807 — Lieut.-Governor : Lieut.-General Sir Eyre Coote. 
1808 — Governor: William, Duke of ^Manchester. 
181 1 — Lieut.-Governor; Edward JMorrison, Esq. 
1813 — Governor: William, Duke of Manchester. 
1821 — Lieut.-Governor: Major-General Henry Conran. 
1822 — Governor : William, Duke of ^Manchester. 
1827— Lieut.-Governor : Jvlaj or- General Sir John Keane. 
1829 — Governor : Somerset Lowry, Earl of Belmore. 
1832 — President : George Cuthbert, Esq. 
1832 — Governor : Constantine Henry, Earl of ^Mulgrave. 
1834 — President: George Cuthbert, Esq. 
1834 — Lieut.-Governor : Major-General Sir Amos Norcot. 
1834 — Governor : Howe Peter, Marquis of Sligo. 
1836 — Governor : Lieut.-General Sir Lionel Smith. Bart., 

K.C.B. 
1839 — Governor : Sir Charles T. Metcalfe, Bart., K.C.B. 
1842— Governor : James, Earl of Elgin. 
1846 — Lieut.-Governor: LI aj or- General Berkeley. 
1846 — Governor : Sir Charles Edward Grey, K.H. 
1853 — Governor : Sir Henry Barkly, K.C.B. 
1856 — Lieut.-Governor : IMaj or- General E. Wells Bell. 
1857 — Governor : Charles Henry DarHng, Esq. 
1862 — Lieut.-Governor : Edward John Eyre, Esq. 
1864 — Governor : Edward John Eyre, Esq. 
1866— Governor : Sir Henry Storks, K.C.B., G.C.M.G. 
1866 — Governor : Sir John Peter Grant, K.C.B. 
1867 — Lieut.-Governor : Major-General O'Connor, C.B. 
1867 — Governor : Sir John Peter Grant, K.C.B. 
1870 — Adm.- Government : Edw. E. Rushworth, Esq.. D.C.L., 

C.M.G. 
1870 — Governor : Sir John Peter Grant, K.C.B. 



The following are a few notes on some of these 
Governors : — 

The memory of Elletson lives in Elletson Road, 
Kingston ; that of Sir William Trelawny in the parish 
of that name. 

D 2 



36 Studies in Jamaica History 

No less than three forts were named after Bailing. 
One stood at Rocky Point. 

Sir Alured Clarke was popular as lieutenant- 
governor, and though he was not made full governor, 
his term of office was extended for six years. 

Both the Earl of Effingham and his countess died 
in Jamaica, and lie buried in the cathedral. Their 
funerals and the monument by Bacon together cost 

The governorship of the Earl of Balcarres is chiefly 
memorable for the Maroon War. That of General, 
afterwards Sir George, Nugent by the not unfrequent 
fear of foreign invasion. Lady Nugent chronicles the 
fact that her son, born at their pen near Spanish Town, 
was the first child born to a governor in the island. 

The Duke of Manchester's administration was 
the longest in the history of the island. 

The Earl of Mulgrave dealt firmly with the slave 
question ; he extinguished the illegal organization 
known as the Colonial Church Union, and during his 
tenure of office the imperial act was passed manu- 
mitting all the slaves in the colonies of Great Britain ; 
while Sir Lionel Smith was the governor when the 
gift of actual freedom was bestowed. 

Sir Charles Metcalfe may fairly be said to have 
been one of the best governors Jamaica ever had. 
The House of Assembly voted ;^ 3,000 for a statue to 
his memory. It was erected in Spanish Town ; re- 
moved to the Parade, Kingston, in 1870 ; and once 
again removed to the bottom of King Street, on to 
the pedestal vacated by Rodney on his return to 
Spanish Town, in order to make room for the statue 
of the Queen erected in 1897 ! 



King's House, Spanish Town 37 

During the presence here of the Earl of Elgin, the 
Royal Agricultural Society (now defunct) was started, 
and the first batch of coolies arrived from India. 

The Countess of Elgin died at Craigton, in the 
Blue Mountains, and was buried in the cathedral, 
where a monument to her memory w^as erected by 
the Legislature. 

Sir Henry Barkly, like Sir Charles Metcalfe, came 
out at a period of deadlock, and like him put matters 
right. 

Sir John Peter Grant, the last governor to inhabit 
King's House, Spanish Town, as a permanent residence, 
is best remembered for the somewhat high-handed 
methods he employed in re-organizing the govern- 
ment of the island as a crown colony. 



Admiral's Pen 

During the later years of the last century, the 
Jamaica naval station was one of very great import- 
ance to the British Empire. The North American 
(with which it is now united) was then considered a 
fine station for making prize money, but the West 
Indies was, to use Nelson's own words, "the station 
for honour." Earlier in the century, however, riches 
were added to honour for those who held command 
at Jamaica. 

In addition to the naval station at Port Royal 
{where the commodore on the station now resides at 
Admiralty House), there was, to the west of Kingston, 
■a dockyard at Greenwich (with a depot for military 
stores, and a hospital, as well as a cemetery * attached), 
which was the point of embarkation for the naval 
authorities, and a pen residence for the comm.ander- 
in-chief near Kingston, known as " Admiral's Pen." 
At times the admiral on the station had a house in the 
hills (it was at '' Admiral's ^Mountain " that Nelson was 
nursed by Lady Parker in 1780, after his return from 
the San Juan expedition), and there was, at one 
period, a naval convalescent hospital (now called The 
Cottage) in the St. Andrew Mountains. 



* This cemetery was probably established when the earth- 
quake at Port Royal led to the choice of the north side of the 
harbour as a place of residence. 



Admiral's Pen 39 

The earliest record of a suggestion for a permanent 
residence for the admiral on the station is to be found 
in the will of Zachary Bayly (the uncle of Bryan 
Edwards, the historian), who offered Greenwich Park, 
situated between Admiral's Pen and Greenwich, 
near Kingston, to the Government " for the use and 
residence of a governor, or of the commander-in-chief, 
for the time being, of his majesty's ships of war 
employed or kept upon this station," at a reduction 
of ;^i,ooo sterling on a just valuation. 

This offer, which Bryan Edwards, as executor, 
made to the House in 1770, was not accepted. 

But in 1773 the House resolved ^'that a sum not 
exceeding ;^2,5oo (currency) be laid out in purchasing 
the house and pen in the parish of St. Andrew, where 
sir William Burnaby, admiral Keppel and admiral 
Parry formerly lived, to be annexed to the government 
for the use of the commander-in-chief of his majesty's 
ships of war on this station." 

Admiral's Pen was bought on the 13th of January, 
1774, by Jasper Hall et al., Commissioners for 
purchasing a pen for the admiral on the station, 
from John Bailing et nx., for the sum of ;{J"2,50o 
(currency). This was Lieutenant-Colonel Bailing, 
who was then Lieutenant-Governor. Its purchase 
was no doubt due to Rodney, who was then the 
admiral on the station. As he left, however, in that 
year, Gayton was probably the first admiral to inhabit 
it as an official residence. 

On the 20th of May, 1863, Thomas Cushnie, for 
the Executive Committee, bought it for £600 
(sterling). It is now used as a Union Poor House for 
Kingston and St. Andrew. Its whitewashed walls and 



40 Studies in Jamaica History 

whitewashed stones along the drive recall the coast- 
guard stations of England, and keep aliv^e the memory 
of its connection with the navy of Great Britain at a 
period of some of its brightest achievements. 

To Admiral's Pen, in 1780, Nelson was brought, 
after a short sojourn at Port Royal, on his return 
from the San Juan expedition, and, weak from fever 
and dysentery, was tenderly nursed by Lady Parker 
and her housekeeper, Mrs. Yates, while even the 
admiral himself took his turn in sitting up with the 
patient. We are told that Nelson's aversion from 
taking medicine was so great that they had to send it 
to him by the hand of the admiral's youngest 
daughter. On the nth of June Nelson went up to 
the admiral's hill residence, or '' Admiral's ^Mountain," * 
as he calls it in a letter to his friend Ross. 

Lady Nugent, the wife of General Nugent, the 
Governor, in her '^ Journal of a Voyage to and 
Residence in the Island of Jamaica," refers to the 
Admiral's Pen more than once. 

In 1804, on the iSth of x\pril, she writes at 
Spanish Town : — 

" Up at half-past two, and arrive at the Admiral's Penn soon 
after dayhght. Admiral D acres there, with Sir J. T. Duckworth^ 
to receive us with a large party of Navy men and a few civihans. 
Like Admiral D acres very much : he seems such a good-natured 
domestic man, always talking of his family. The morning 
spent in gossiping and talking nonsense, but we were all merry 
and much amused. . . . Cards, after which to bed at 9 o'clock.'"' 

On the 19th. ''General N., etc., off at daylight, to review 



* This seems to have been in the Red Hills above Spanish 
Town, but its site has not hitherto been identified. *' Mountain *' 
was not in those days an unusual term for a property in the hills 
in Jamaica. 




'l^-. 



i^- 



) ' 


g 


t , 






f 




1 ; 


in 






1 




t 


Z 


1 






y 



< 



AdmiraFs Pen 41 



the 6th battalion of the 6oth regiment, at Up- Park camp. . . . 
The Admirals, etc., at breakfast with Mrs. Horsford and me. . . . 
Began the ball with Sir J. T. Duckworth, and then danced with 
several other Na\y men, as well as military and civihans." 

The ball must have been a public one in Kingston 
and not at Admiral's Pen, for she writes, ^' Home at 
one.'' On the 20th she records, ''At 5 a very 
numerous dinner party indeed." On the 21st, ''The 
morning as usual . . . visitors and gossip till 4, then 
proceed to Mr. Simon Taylor's Penn [Vale Royal], 
where there was a grand entertainm.ent . . . ." On 
the 22nd she writes : " Start at daylight for home.'* 

On the 13th of September, in the same year, she 
writes : — 

" Breakfast at 8, as usual. Have, at 1 1, a second breakfast of 
fruit, wine, cake, etc., and at 12 all set off for the Admiral's 
Penn : Lady M[argaret Cameron, wife of the Governor of the 
Bahamas], her young people, and myself, in the sociable, with 
our two black postillions, in scarlet liveries, but with black 
ancles peeping out of their particulars, and altogether rather a 
novel sort of appearance, to Europeans just arrived. General 
N. and Mr. Cameron in the curricle. Aides-de-camp, servants, 
etc., in kittareens, and on horseback ; and all arrived in grand 
procession at the Admiral's at about 3. Refreshments were 
ready, and then we all creolized till 5 o'clock. A large party, 
of the Navy chiefly, at dinner. Cards ; and to bed soon 
after ten." 

The next day she writes : — 

"... At 5 [p.m.] the carriages came to the door and we all 
separated with real regret . . . Governor Cameron and his 
family went to Greenwich, to embark for the Bahamas, and we 
returned with our party to Spanish Town. . . ." 

The banquets and other ceremonies that have 
taken place within the walls of Admiral's Pen must 
have been exceeded in splendour only by those of 
King's House, Spanish Town, in its palmiest days. 



42 Studies in Jamaica History - 

The following is a list, made as complete as 
possible, of the principal naval officers who have been 
commanders-in-chief on the Jamaica station, and, 
since its incorporation with the North American 
station, commodores on the Jamaica division. The 
post was and is, as a rale, held for three years. The list 
contains some of the most brilliant names to be found 
in the annals of the British Xavy. It has been com- 
piled from the Jamaica Almanacs in the Librar}^ of the 
Institute of Jamaica, the "Dictionary of National Bio- 
graphy," Clowes's "Royal Xavy,'' and other works : — 

1655 — Sir William Penn, admiral and general-at-sea. 

1655-57 — Alce-Admiral William Goodsonn, commanded in 

chief at Jamaica. 
1656-57 — Wee- Admiral Christopher ^lyngs at Jamaica. 
1662-64 — Wee-Admiral Christopher ]\Iyngs at Jamaica. 
"1692— Commodore Wrenn, commanded m the West Indies.] 
1692 — Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Wheler, commanded in the 

West Indies.] 
[1702 — \'ice- Admiral Benbow. buried in Kingston, after his 

engagement with du Casse.] 
[1703 — ^Wce- Admiral John Graydon. commanded a fieet in the 

West Indies.] 
[1705 — Sir William Whetstone, commanded a ileet in the West 

Indies.] 
[1706- Captain William Kerr, commanded a fieet in the West 

Indies.] 
[1706 — Sir John Jennings, commanded a fleet in the West Indies.] 

Commanders-in-Chief at Jamaica. 

1707-09 — Rear- Admiral Charles Wager. 

j-Ji — Commodore James Littleton. 

171 2 — Rear-Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker. 

1720 — Commodore Vernon, commander-in-chief of all His 

}vlajesty's ships in the West Indies. 
[1726-27 — \'ice - Admiral Francis Hosier, commanded a 

squadron in the West Indies.] 
1727 — Commodore Edward St. Lo, in command of West India 

Station. 
1728 — Vice-Admiral Edward Hopsonn, in command of West 

India Station. 



Admirars Pen 43 

1728-29 — Rear- Admiral Edward St. Lo, in command of West 

India Station. 
1730-31 — Rear- Adm.iral the Hon. Charles Stuart, in command of 

West India Station. 
1732 — Commodore Richard Lestock. 
1732-39 — Commodore Sir Chaloner Ogle. 
•[i 739-1 742 — Admiral Edward Vernon, commanded in the West 

Indies.] 
1742-44 — Rear- Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle. 
(1744 — Vice- Admiral Thomas Davers, died at Jamaica.] 
1747 — Captain Digby Dent. 
1747-49 — Rear- Admiral Charles Knowles. 
1749-52 — Commodore the Hon. George Townshend. ■ 
I755~57 — Rear- Admiral the Hon. George Townshend. 
1757 — Rear- Admiral Thomas Cotes. 
1760-61 — Rear- Admiral Charles Holmes. 
1762 — Commodore Sir James Douglas. 
:[i762 — Admiral Sir George Pocock, commander-in-chief of 

expedition against Havana.] 
1762-64 — Rear-Admiral Viscount Keppel. 
1764-66 — Rear-Admiral Sir William Burnaby. 
l767~Rear-Admiral W. Parry. 
1769-70 — Commodore x\rthur Forrest. 
177 1-7 4 — Rear-Admiral Sir George Rodney. 
1776-78 — Vice- Admiral Clarke Gay ton. 
1778-82— Vice-Admiral Sir Peter Parker. 
£1779 — Captain Horatio Nelson, commanded in Fort Charles, 

Port Royal.] 
1782-83 — Rear-Admiral Joshua P^owley. 
-1 7 83-84 — Vice-Admiral James Gambler. 
1785 — Commodore John Pakenham. 
1786 — Rear-Admiral Alexander Innes. 
1786-89 — Commodore Alan (afterwards Lord) Gardner. 
J 790-93 — Rear-Admiral Philip Affleck. 
1793-95— Rear-Admiral John Ford. 
-1 796 — Rear-Admiral WiUiam Parker. 
1796 — Commodore Richard Rodney Bligh. 
-1 796-99 — Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker. 
J 799-1 801 — Vice-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour. 
1802 — Rear-Admiral Robert ^Montagu. 
1803-05 — Vice-Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth. 
1806-08 — Vice-Admiral James Richard D acres. 
1809-11 — Vice-Admiral Bartholomew Samuel Rowley. 
181 1— Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Stirhng, Bart. 
i8i2 — Vice-Admiral James Vashon. 
18 13-14— Rear-Admiral WilHam Brown. 



44 Studies in Jamaica History 



1 8 14-15 — A'ice-Admiral the Hon. Sir Alexander Forrester 
Inglis Cochrane, K.B., commander-in-chief on the 
Jamaica Station, Windward and Leeward Islands, and 
Coast of North America. 

1 8 16- 1 7 — Rear- Admiral John Erskine Douglas. 

1818-20 — Rear-Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham. K.C.B. 

1820-23— Rear- Admiral Sir Charles Rowley.'K.C.B. 

1824-27 — Vice-Admiral Sir Lawrence William Halstead. K.C.B. 

1828-29 — Vice-Admiral the Hon. Charles Eiphinstone Fleeming. 

1829-32 — Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Griffith Colpoys, K.C.B. 

1833 — Commodore Arthur Farquhar, C.B.. K.C.H.. K.S. 

Commodores ox Jamaica Division of North American 
AND West India Station. 

838— Sir John Strutt Peyton, K.C.H. 

839-41 — Peter John Douglas. 

843 — Hon. Henr}- Dilkes Brng. 

844-5 — Alexander R. Sharp'e, C.B. 

846 — Daniel Bring. 

849-5 1 — Thomas Bennet. 

855 — Thomas Henderson. 

860— Henry Kellet. C.B. 

861 — Hugh Dunlop. 

864-65— Peter Cracroft, C.B. 

865-68 — Sir Francis Leopold M'CHntock. 

869-70 — Augustus Philimore. 

871-72 — Richard W. Courtenay. 

873-75— Algernon F. R. DeHorsey. 

^76-7% — Algernon McLennan Lvons. 

879-80— W. T. Ward. 

880-82— WiUiam S. Brown. 

882— Edward Whhe. 

882-83— John C. Purvis. 

883-86— F. M. Prattent. 

886-89— Henry Hand. 

889-92— Rodney ^L Llovd. 

892-95— T. S. Jackson. 

895-98— H. W. Dowding. 

898-99— William H. Henderson. 

900— Edward H. M. Davis. C.M.G. 

The following brief biographic notes ma\' be not 
without interest : — 

Vice-Admiral Hosier died in Jamaica on the 



Admirars Pen 45 

25th of August, 1727, while in command of a squadron 
sent to the West Indies to prevent the Spaniards 
sending home treasure. His body was taken to 
England for burial and was interred with great pomp, 
at an expense of ^^500, in the church of St. Nicholas, 
Deptford. 

The same epidemic fever which killed Hosier 
carried off four thousand men, about fifty lieutenants 
and eight or ten captains and flag-officers, including 
Hosier's successors, Vice-Admiral Edward Hopsonn, 
who died on the 8th of May, 1728, and Rear-Admiral 
St. Lo, who died on the 22nd April, 1729. 

Rear-Admiral Stuart was noticeable for the 
sympathy with the Spanish privateers (whom his 
predecessor St. Lo had dubbed "no better than 
pirates "), which he acquired while on the station. 
Writing in 173 1 to the Duke of Newcastle, he 
admitted that the British carried on the trade with 
the Spanish Colonies, which was forbidden, at their 
own risk, and that their ships were good prizes if 
taken. This, he said, led them to retaliate by robbing 
such Spaniards as they could overpower, and he 
added : — 

" I can assure you that the sloops that sail from this island 
[Jamaica], manned and armed on that illicit trade, have more 
than once bragged to me of having murdered seven or eight 
Spaniards on their own shore. 

" I can't help observing that I believe I am the first military 
person who has stood up in the defence of peace and quietness, 
and for delivering up vessels, against a parcel of men who call 
themselves merchants, but they are no better than pedlars, and 
one of them formerly in jail for piracy." 

It is pointed out in Clowes's '^ Royal Navy " that 
Stuart's plea for peace may have been based on his 
belief that, as the British had by far the greater 



46 Studies in Jamaica History 

number of ships trading in these seas, reprisals would 
not pay ; as was proved when the war broke out. 

Lestock, who was appointed to command at 
Jamaica on the 6th of April, 1732, was superseded on 
the 19th of May, without any reason being given. 
Writing from Port Royal in November, he says : 
'' Such a fate as I have met with is far worse than 
death," and a few years later he was passed over for 
flag rank in favour of four junior officers in a similar 
mysterious way. He was third in command under 
Vernon at Carthagena. He is now chiefly remembered 
for his quarrel with Mathews, which culminated at the 
action off" Toulon in 1743-4 when, ^'careless, it would 
seem, of the disgrace which fell on the British Flag," 
he, taking advantage of technicalities (which afterwards 
procured his acquittal by court-martial), neglected to 
render to Mathews the support which he ought. 

Sir Chaloner Ogle is remembered in Jamaica for 
his quarrel, and subsequent trial in 1742, with the 
Governor, Edward Trelawny. In the hurricane that 
devastated Jamaica on the 20th of October, 1744, eight 
ships of the royal navy, besides a great number of 
merchantmen, were either wrecked or driven ashore. 
Ogle was luckily at sea with the greater part of his 
fleet, and so escaped its fury. 

Vernon is remembered for his famous taking of 
Porto Bello, which sent the people of England mad 
with joy, and gave rise to upwards of one hundred 
commemoration medals, rather than by the unsuc- 
cessful attempt on Carthagena, the result of one of 
those unhappy jealousies between army and navy which 
have arisen from time to time in English history. 

It is interestinc^ to note that it was on this station 



Admirars Pen 47 

that Vernon, in order to put a check on intemperance 
due to drinking neat rum, issued the order, afterwards 
adopted throughout the navy with the best results, 
for the rations of rum to be given out diluted with 
water ; and thus arose the drink known after the 
nick-name of the admiral (due, it is said, to his 
wearing a grogram boat-cloak) of " grog." 

Vernon also placed the watering of the fleet at 
Jamaica on a satisfactory basis, but Rodney later 
found that the pumps and sheds had been suffered 
for many years to go to ruin. 

Townshend, the nephew of Sir Robert Walpole, is 
chiefly remembered for his conduct when in command 
of a detached squadron on the west coast of Italy in 
1745, for which he was censured by a court-martial. 

Holmes died in Jamaica on the 2 1st of March, 1761. 
He lies buried in Half- Way Tree church. There is 
a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey. 

Pocock and Keppel are remembered, in connection 
with Jamaica history, for the capture of Havana, the 
money value of the prize being estimated at upwards 
of three millions sterling ; Pocock and Albemarle, the 
commander of the troops (Keppel's elder brother), 
each receiving about ;^ 123,000. 

Forrest, who died in Jamaica on the 26th of May, 
1770, had assumed the ofiice of commander-in-chief 
on the death of Holmes in 1761, but he was summarily 
dispossessed by Sir James Douglas, and was informed 
by the Admiralty that his conduct was " most 
irregular and unjustifiable.'' He married a daughter 
of Colonel Lynch, of Jamaica. 

When Rodney came he found that apartments only 
were provided for the admiral at Port Royal, and it 



48 Studies in Jamaica History- 
was doubtless due to his action that "'Admiral's Pen "' 
was purchased just before he left. One of the chief 
objects to which he devoted his attention while on 
this station was the watering of the fleet — the water 
being at that time purchased by the naval authorities ; 
and he, after investigations at Kingston and the Rio 
Cobre, decided on Rock Fort, Vernon's old spot, as a 
source of supply. 

In connection with these improvements, Rodney 
used to say that he was for some time considered by 
the sailors as a great benefactor — as he had relieved 
them of the necessity of rolling casks of water for a 
very great distance under a tropical sun, and that 
their gratitude was frequently expressed by " God 
bless the Admiral " ; but when they discovered that 
the ships were watered in a very short time, and that 
their leave on shore was thereby much curtailed, they 
changed their tune, and said, '^ The devil take the 
Admiral.'' While here, he reported strongly in 
favour of making a naval station at Port Antonio. 

Rodney, we are told, went home from Jamaica in 
1774, ''no richer than when he went out, and much 
disgusted with the ministry which had refused to 
appoint him governor of Jamaica." He, however, 
later made for himself a greater name in Jamaica 
history than the majority of its governors achieved. 
His statue at Spanish Town, by Bacon, cost in all 
£8,200. 

While Gayton was here he had frequent and 
troublesome correspondence with the French 
commodores at Cape Francois, and with the French 
governor, concerning right of search and alleged 
breaches of neutrality. 



Admirars Pen 49 

Sir Peter Parker is now chiefly remembered for 
his early friendship and patronage of Nelson. He it 
was who took home De Grasse and the other principal 
French officers captured by Rodney in 1782. 

Sir Joshua Rowley had served in the West Indies, 
under Sir James Douglas in 1760, with Byron in 
command of a squadron in 1779, and under Rodney 
in the following year. 

Gambier had been present at the capture of 
Guadeloupe and at the unsuccessful attack on 
Martinique. 

Lord Gardner had been out in Jamaica before, in 
1766, as flag-captain to Admiral Parry, and he later 
served in the " West India " under Byron and took 
part in Rodney's great victory. Gardner married in 
Jamaica, in 1769, Susanna Hyde, daughter and heiress 
of Francis Gale of Liguanea, and widow of Sabine 
Turner. 

Philip Affleck, who had served in the West Indies 
under Rodney, was brother to the more celebrated 
Edmund Affleck, who received a baronetcy for his 
share in the glorious 12th of April. In 1792 the 
House of Assembly voted him thanks and 300 guineas 
for the purchase of a piece of plate ^'as a small 
testimony of the high respect and regard which this 
House entertain of his merit, and for the great 
services he has in his public character rendered to the 
country on every occasion." 

Sir William Parker had been on the Jamaica 
Station as a midshipman in 1761, and again in the 
West Indies under Barrington in 1778, and under 
Byron in 1779; and from 1787 to 1790 he was 
commander-in-chief on the Leeward Islands station. 

E 



50 Studies in Jamaica History 

He had to quit Jamaica after holding the command 
for a few months, owing to a severe illness. He was 
third in command at the battle of Cape St. Vincent, 
and was made a baronet for his services 

Sir Hyde Parker (1739-1807), who had been 
knighted for his successful action at the North River 
in 1776, and had seen service under Hood in the 
Mediterranean, was very fortunate duiing his four 
years' tenure of the office of commander-in-chief at 
Jamaica. The cruising-ships stationed by him 
brought in a great many prizes — merchantmen, 
privateers and ships of war, '' by which both himself 
and his country were materially benefited." 

Lord Hugh Seymour, the fifth son of the first 
Marquis of Hertford (of that creation), died 
September, 1801, at sea off Jamaica, but his body 
was sent home for burial. 

Admiral Robert Montagu was a natural son of the 
celebrated fourth Earl of Sandwich — 

" Too infamous to have a friend, 
Too bad for bad men to commend " — 

who was responsible for much of the jobbery that 
went on in the affairs of the navy during the time he 
presided at the admiralty. 

Sir John Thomas Duckworth is remembered in 
the Leeward Islands for his capture in 1801 of St. 
Bartholomew, St. Thomas, and the other Danish and 
Swedish islands ; in Jamaica for his direction, while 
in command of the station in 1803, of the operations 
which led to the surrender of General Rochambeau 
and the French army in San Domingo ; and for his 
victory in 1806 over the French under Leissegues off 



Admirars Pen 51 

San Domingo — " one of the completest victories on 
record." 

Vice-Admiral Bartholomew Samuel Rowley, the 
son of Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Rowley, died on the 
7th of October, 181 1, while holding the post of 
commander-in-chief at Jamaica ; as did Rear- Admiral 
William Brown on the 20th of September, 18 14. 

Sir Arthur Farquhar received a vote of thanks 
from the House of Assembly and a sword valued 
at £iSO, and a piece of plate from the merchants of 
Jamaica for his services during the suppression of 
the revolt of negroes, and on his return home he was 
knighted. 

Amongst Jamaica's naval governors may be 
mentioned the buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan (at 
times from 1675-1682), Admiral Lord Archibald 
Hamilton (171 i-i 7 16), Vice-Admiral Charles Knowles 
(1752-1756), Captain Sir William Trelawny (1768- 
1772), and Captain Sir Basil Keith (1774-1777). 

Morgan ended his chequered career at Port Royal 
in 1688. Knowles is known in naval annals for the 
part he played in the destruction, under Vernon, of 
the forts at Porto Bello, the capture of Chagres, the . 
attack of Carthagena, the equally unsuccessful attack 
on Santiago de Cuba, and his victory, off Havana, of 
October ist, 1748, over the Spanish fleet, which led 
to much recrimination between himself and his 
•officers, to court-martials, and to several duels. 

In Jamaica, Knowles rendered himself unpopular 
as a governor by his removal of the seat of govern- 
ment from Spanish Town to Kingston, a century 
before its time, which w^as, however, cancelled by the 
home government three years later. 

E 2 



Nelson's Quarter-Deck 

Of all the forts which have been erected from time 
to time round the coast of Jamaica for its protection, 
the oldest, and most important from an historic stand- 
point, is undoubtedly Fort 
Charles at Port Royal, and 
its chief interest centres in 
the fact that Nelson com- 
manded there in 1779. 

Named after Charles II., 
its construction was com- 
menced in the reign of that 
monarch. When origi- 
nally built it was washed 
by the sea on two sides. 
Chocalatta Hole has silted 
up and is now the parade 
ground. Hickeringill, writ- 
ing in 1661, says: "And 
the Entrance into the Harbour is commanded with 
a Fort, built by the English : wherein there are at 
this Day, some as good Canon planted, as the Tower 
of London would afford." It is thus referred to in 
a ''Journal Kept by Colonel William Beeston from 
his first coming to Jamaica,'^ * in connection with a 




NELSON. 



* Reprinted in " Interesting Tracts relating to the island of 
Jamaica," St. J ago de la Vega, 1800. Vide aule, p. 23. 



Nelson's Quarter-Deck 53 

fear that the Spaniards, enraged by the loss of 
St. Jago (de Cuba) might meditate revenge, and 
make some attempt on the island :— 

"Therefore what ]\Ioney was due to the King was called in, 
and in November [1662] about forty men hired to work on the 
fort, which is now called Fort Charles, with intent to finish it, 
which hitherto lay open, with only a round tour of stone and 
banks of boards and sand towards the sea. On the first of 
December these men began to work at it, on w^hich day it 
happened that all the planets in the heavens were in ]\Iars 
ascendant of the Spanish Nation, and such a remarkable con- 
vention that does not happen in very many years. ... In the 
meantime the fort went on vigorously, insomuch that, by or 
about the thirtieth of December, the platform in the half moon 
towards the sea was laid, and that day one whole cannon and 
three demi-cannon of brass were mounted on it. . . . " 

and on May 29th, 1678, he writes : — 

" Being the King's birthday, and all the flags abroad upon 
all the forts, the great flag of Fort Charles blew down, which 
we doubted was ominous, being so noted a day, and on the 
most noted fort," &c. 

The fort was '' not shook down, but much shattered " 
by the earthquake of 1692. It was subsequently 
reconstructed in 1699 by^ Colonel Christian Lilly, 
who had laid out the city of Kingston four 
years earlier, and who in 1734 was captain of 
the fort. 

From the earliest times, the members of the 
House of Assembly were admitted to view the forts 
and fortifications, and a joint committee of the 
Assembly and Council used to report annually on 
Fort Charles. In 1705 ''numerous defects" were 
reported; in 1706 it was ''in good repair"; in 171 1 
the round tower was "perfectly useless"; in 1722 



54 Studies in Jamaica History 

they found that '' the South and East lines, or bastions, 
are so undermined that it is dangerous to fire from 
them" ; in 1725 the Hanover Hne was ''undermined 
by the sea and in danger of being quite lost " ; in 
1726-27 the fortifications were "in very great dis- 
order"; in 1734 the committee reported of the 
fortifications and stores, " The great disorder they are 
in, and the little care that seems to have been taken 
of them," &c. And in 1736 the committee got angry — 

" ' On the whole the Committee think themselves obhged to 
observe, with that just concern which becomes them, that the 
present state and condition of the fortifications in Port Royal, which 
is very defenceless, requires the immediate consideration of the 
legislature, as they are the strength and security of the island ; 
they likewise cannot help taking notice that though, from time 
to time, several Committees of His Majesty's Council and of 
former Assemblies had been appointed to view and survey the 
said fortifications and stores, made their report in pursuance 
thereof, and resolutions thereon taken, that Httle or no notice 
have been taken to remedy the grievances complained of, so 
that the state and condition of the fortifications grows worse 
and worse.' " 

Long, writing in 1774, says : ^'The Captain of the 
fort [Fort Charles] has of late years been appointed 
by the Governor's warrant, upon the nomination of 
the Ministry. His salary is only £iO() lOs, per 
annum, but the profits of this post make it far more 
considerable." 

In June, 1779, war was declared with Spain, and 
on the nth of that month Nelson was promoted to 
the command of the Hinchinbrook, thus becoming 
a post-captain while yet four months under twenty- 
one years of age. The ship was then at sea, and had 
not returned by the 28th of July, when Nelson wrote 
from Port Royal to his friend Captain Locker, and 




< 

> 



< 



Nelson's Quarter-Deck 55 

she apparently did not return till the ist of September. 
During this period Nelson was in command of the 
batteries at Fort Charles, as he twice mentions in his 
published correspondence ; once when writing under 
date of 1 2th August, 1779, to Locker, and once in the 
" Sketch of my Life," written twenty years later. At 
this time Jamaica was, to use Nelson^s own words, 
" turned upside down " by fear of capture by a French 
fleet. In his letter to Locker he says, speaking of 
the measures of defence taken :— 

'^ 5,000 men are encamped between the Ferry and Kingston, 
1,000 at Fort Augusta, 300 at the Apostles Battery, and we 
expect to have 500 in Fort Charles, where I am to command. 
Lion, SaHsbury, Charon and Janus, in a hne from the 
Point to the outer shoal ; Ruby and Bristol in the narrows 
going to Kingston, to rake any ships that may attack Fort 
Augusta ; Pomona and Speke Indiaman above Rock Fort, 
and Lowestoffe at the end of the dock wall. ... I have 
fairly stated our situation, and I leave you in England to judge 
what stand we shall make ; I think you must not be surprised 
to hear of my learning to speak French." 

In his sketch of his life. Nelson tells us : — 

"In this critical state [i.e. fear of invasion] I was by both 
Admiral * and General t entrusted with the command of the 
batteries at Port Royal ; and I need not say as the defence of 
this place was the key to the Port of the whole naval force, the 
town of Kingston, and Spanish Town, it was the most important 
place in the whole island." 

And this was Nelson's first actual command after 
he was posted, though it lasted probably but three or 
four weeks, and gave him no opportunity of showing 
what he could do in that capacity. 

* Sir Peter Parker, a hfe-long friend and patron of Nelson, 
who was chief mourner at his funeral. 

t The Governor, Major-General John Bailing, who was 
created a baronet in 1783. 



56 Studies in Jamaica Histoty 

He feared that the French fleet, under Count 
d'Estaing, which was then off San Domingo, would 
be more than a match for Jamaica ; but the troops, 
which to the number of 25,000 were reported 
to be with the fleet, were non-existent. D'Estaing 
sailed southward, and the fate of the island was not 
decided till Rodney's glorious victory of three years 
later. Nelson sailed in the Hinchinbrook for a 
cruise in the middle of September, and early in the 
following year went on the expedition to Nicaragua, 
which, while it laid the foundation of his subsequent 
fame, nearly cost him his life. 

On his return to Port Royal he was suffering so 
much from fever and dysentery that he had to be 
carried ashore in his cot to the lodging-house of his 
former black nurse, Cuba Cornwallis.* 

After being nursed by the Parkers, he was 
invalided home ; and shortly afterwards he sat for 
the portrait given at the head of this chapter. 

Nelson's reputation still survives in Fort Charles 
itself, and his wooden '' quarter-deck " there is still 
shown, from which he could, while pacing up and 
down, command a view to windward. 

There is also an inscription to his memory in gilt 
letters on a white marble tablet fixed into the brick- 
work of the west wall of Fort Charles. In size the 



'^ She had been given her freedom by Admiral Cormvallis, 
She appears to have been a favourite sick-nurse with naval 
officers. Richard Hill tells us that she "' soothed many a head- 
ache " of Prince Wiiham Henry, and that Queen Adelaide, in 
remembrance of kindnesses to her royal consort, sent her a 
present of a gown. This Cuba would never wear while alive. 
but kept it till her death, which occurred in 1848, and in it was 
buried. 



Nelson's Quarter-Deck 57 

tablet is two and a half feet by one and a half feet, 
•and the following is a copy of the inscription : — 



IN THIS PLACE 
DWELT 

HORATIO NELSON. 



VOL/ IVHO TREAD IN HIS FOOTPRINTS 
REMEMBER HIS GLORY. 



There is also another memento in the naval yard 
at Port Royal, in the shape of a figurehead, repre- 
senting the great hero, overlooking the harbour, into 
which he so often sailed, the actual figurehead of 
the former guardship at Port Royal, the Aboukir, 
named after Nelson's victory in Aboukir Bay, more 
commonly known as the battle of the Nile. 

With reference to Nelson's connection with the 
island generally, the following paragraph may be 
quoted from Mr. Robert Johnstone's '' Nelson in the 
West Indies " * :— 

" On the Jamaica station he served the whole term of his 
lieutenancy and his first period of independent command, first 
as commander and then as post-captain ; in Jamaica he formxd 
warm friendships which lasted till death, Collingwood, Admiral 
Parker and Captain Locker — to whom may fairly be added 
Prince William — being the chief of his naval friends, and 
Hercules Ross, of Kingston, the chief of his civilian ones. After 
this, ' Jamaica is the place I wish to go to,' he said, as a captain, 

* In the ''Journal of the Institute of Jamaica," vol. ii., 1S99. 



58 Studies in Jamaica History 

and again it is the Jamaica station we find him subsequently 
expressing his wish to get the command of, ^ was I an admiral ' ; 
for three years we find him in the Leeward Islands, where he 
married ; and on his last and most celebrated chase of the 
enemy's fleet, which saved for the second time the British West 
Indies from capture, we find him expressing his especial care for 
the safety of Jamaica not only in a letter to an old friend, Simon 
Taylor, then in the Island, but also in many other letters." 

Nelson's memory was kept green in Jamaica for 
many years. Monk Lewis saw at Black River, at 
New Year, 1816, a "Nelson's Car" with ''Trafalgar'* 
written on it, which formed part of the procession of 
Blue Girls in the John Canoe festivities. But there is 
no monument to the great hero here, as there is at 
Barbados ; and yet the larger island owes just as 
much to Nelson as does the smaller. 

In the "Journals of the House of Assembly,'* 
under date 15th June, 1778, is recorded the following 
message sent to the Governor by the House : — 

" We are ordered by the house to wait on your Excellency,, 
and to desire you will be pleased to have such works carried 
into execution, as you shall think most necessary for the 
immediate defence of this island ; the expense of such works 
not to exceed ^12,000 and this or any future assembly will 
provide for the same." 

About this period * there were no less than thirty 
forts and batteries in the island — each with its officer 
commanding — Fort Charles, at Port Royal ; Rock 
Fort, Fort Augusta, Apostles Battery, Henderson's 
Battery, and Small's Battery, all in Kingston Harbour ; 
a Post at Sixteen Mile Walk (Bog Walk) ; Fort 
Haldane, at Port Maria ; Fort Columbus, in Dry 

* See *' Jamaica Almanac " for 1784. 



Nelson's Quarter-Deck 59 

Harbour ; St. Ann's Fort, Fort William and Salt- 
gut Battery, in St. Ann ; Batteries (East's, Hall's, 
Wallen's, and Moore's) at Stony Hill ; Fort George, at 
Port Antonio ; Ferry Fort ; Fort Bailing, at Rocky 
Point ; Pera and Bowden Hill Batteries, in St. Thomas 
in the East ; Whydah Battery and Fort Richmond, in 
Portland ; and Annotto Bay Fort ; another Fort 
Calling, in Trelawny ; Martha Brae Fort ; Fort 
George, Savanna-la-Mar Fort ; and a third Fort 
Balling, in Westmoreland ; Fort Frederick, and 
George's Battery, in St. James ; Lucea Fort and 
Green Island Fort, in Hanover ; and Black River 
Fort, in St. Elizabeth. By 1793 the list had dwindled 
to six only — Fort Augusta ; Apostles Battery ; Fort 
Charles ; Rock Fort ; Fort George, Port Antonio ; and 
Fort Charlotte, Lucea; but by 1801 it had risen 
again to thirteen — the new forts being Fort Balcarres,, 
in Trelawny ; Fort Lindsay ; Fort Ramsay, in St. 
Thomas in the East ; Fort Bundas,* at Rio Bueno ;. 
and Fort Clarence, in St. Catherine. At present 
there are but six ; but of these one or two are 
strongly fortified. 

* This fort bears the date 1778. 



Bryax Castle 



Bryax Castle, in Trelawn}-, where Bn-an Edwards's 
" Histor}- of the British West Indies " was written, was, 
together with the neighbouring estate of Brampton 

(now called Brampton 
Bryan), settled by him in 
or before 1792. It is within 
three miles of the port of 
Rio Bueno. It afterwards 
became, by purchase, the 
property of Alexander 
Donaldson. It is now in 
the possession of Dr. A. V. 
Proctor. A view of the 
Great House is given in 
James Hakewill's " Pictur- 
esque Tour of the Island of 
Jamaica'" (London, 1825'), 
the most artistic work ever published on the island. In 
1825 the property contained 1402 acres of land, 300 
of which were in sugar-canes, 600 in pasture and 
pimento, and the remainder was occupied b}' negroes 
and their provision grounds. The crops had then 
averaged, during the pre\-ious twelve }'ears, 300 hogs- 
heads of sugar, with the usual proportion of rum, and 
in good seasons 300 bags of pimento. 




BRYAN EDWARDS. 



Bryan Castle 6i 

There were employed 165 estate negroes, with the 
addition of extra labour. 

The Great House, as the owner's residence on 
a West Indian property is invariably called, is a 
typical Jamaica house of the period, solidly built, 
but without any pretensions to architectural beauty, 
and surrounded on all four sides by the usual 
verandah. 

When Hakewill \yrote, Edwards's books and 
furniture were still preserved in his study upstairs, 
where he compiled his history. His writing- 
table IS now all that remains. From the only 
window an extensive view is obtained, across the 
Bryan Castle Works and cane-fields in the fore- 
ground and more cane-fields and woodlands in the 
distance, to the open sea in the neighbourhood of 
Falmouth. 

Bryan Edwards was born at Westbury, in Wilt- 
shire, in 1743, the son of a maltster. In 1759 he 
was sent by his widowed mother, who had great 
difficulty in maintaining her six children, to Jamaica 
to the care of one of her brothers, Zachary Bayly, 
a liberal-minded man of considerable wealth, who 
took the family under his protection. The epitaph 
on the monument of the uncle, in Half-way Tree 
church, is from the pen of the nephew. In 
Jamaica Edwards resided under his uncle's care, 
continuing his studies (which he had commenced 
at a French boarding-school in Bristol) under the 
Rev. Isaac Teale, who was specially engaged by 
his uncle for this purpose — the T— — of Edwards's 
'' Poems." They evidently lived on one of Zachary 
Bayly's properties in St. Mary, on the banks of 



62 Studies in Jamaica History 

the Agua Alta (Wagwater). In his "Elegy on the 
death of a friend," Edwards says : 

'' Enamour'd echo bade each mountain hear, 
And pleas'd Aguaha smoother flow'd along. 

Oft round thy banks, sweet stream (now sacred made), 
Together we explor'd the classic page ;" 

Teale, who died in 1794, was at his own request 
buried on its banks. 

In 1769 Edwards was left heir to his uncle's pro- 
perty, and four years later he acquired by bequest the 
great possessions of a Mr. Hume of Jamaica, and 
became a merchant. In 1765 he had been elected a 
member of the House of Assembly for the parish 
of St. George, now merged in Portland. In February 
1770 he resigned his seat on the plea that his ill-health 
necessitated a change of climate ; but he apparently 
did not leave the island, and in December 177 1 he 
was again elected for St. George, but in 1772 he was 
called up to a seat in the Council. 

In 1782 he returned to England, where he tried, 
without success, to enter parliament. 

In 1787 he came out again to Jamaica, and in the 
Assembly, which first met in October of that year, he 
sat as member for Trelawny. In 1788 he received, 
in his place, the unanimous thanks of the House for 
his reports on the slave trade. Soon after the revolt 
of the negroes in 1791 he paid a short visit to 
San Domingo, in the welfare of which island he took 
a deep interest, endeavouring to obtain for it a loan 
from Jamaica. This was recommended by a com- 
mittee of the Assembly, but the matter met with public 
opposition, and the loan did not pass the House. 




> 



C4 



< 
< 



Bryan Castle 63 

In 1793 his seat in the Assembly was declared 

vacant, he having gone to England the previous year. 

In a long letter from his pen, which appeared in '' The 

Royal Gazette," April 14-21, 1792, he says : — 

'^ For myself, I propose shortly to quit the island, and 
probably shall never return to it ; but my wishes for its happi- 
ness, freedom and prosperity, will never be suppressed, so long 
as I have life and recollection. I have exerted myself in its 
service for the last five years, with unabating zeal and perse- 
verance, and, I hope, on some occasions with success." 

He then settled permanently at Southampton as 
a West India merchant and banker. In 1796 he was 
elected M.P. for Grampound. He supported the 
slave trade with certain restrictions, and was admitted 
by Wilberforce to be a powerful opponent to abolition. 
He was, however, not unmindful of the great hard- 
ships done in Africa, and he stated openly in Jamaica : 
*' That if all the nations of Europe would concur in a 
determination to relinquish the slave trade altogether, 
it ought to be relinquished." 

He died at Southampton in July, 1800. His 
wife was Martha, daughter of Thomas Phipps, of 
Westbury. His only son, Zachary Hume Edwards, 
who was not of age when his father died, inherited his 
vast wealth, but died on board the '' Montague " 
packet on his passage from Jamaica to England in 
1812. That Bryan Edwards was, to some extent at 
all events, a patron of the arts is evident from the 
following extract from the second codicil to his will : — 

" I give and devise to my wife, ^Martha Edwards . . . the 
full length portrait of herself, drawn by Pine, now in my 
drawing-room in London, if she thinks proper to accept it. I 
give and devise to my brother the portraits of my mother and 
brother Nathaniel ]\IcHume and my own portrait now in 
London and any six other pictures in my collection which he 
may make choice of." 



64 Studies in Jamaica History 

Four later members of Edwards's family have 
also been famous. Sir Bryan Edwards, Chief Justice 
of Jamaica, died in December, 1876. Dr. William 
Frederic Edwards, who was born in Jamaica * in 1776, 
w^as the son of a rich English planter — William by 
name (a cousin of Bryan) — who afterwards settled at 
Bruges, where the younger William was educated. 
In early life he became a Frenchman and won for 
himself much fame as a physiologist, dying at 
Versailles in 1842. William's younger brother, Henri 
Milne Edwards (born at Bruges in 1800 and died in 
1885), the zoologist, and Henri's son, Alphonse Milne 
Edwards (born in Paris in 1835 ^.nd died in 1900), 
successively held the post of Professor of Zoology at 
the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. 

In 1793, Edwards published in London, in two 
quarto volumes, '' The History, Civil and Commercial, 
of the British Colonies in the West Indies," with 
plates and maps : it was dedicated to the King. It 
has remained the standard work on its subject, the 
history of the British West Indies till the close of the 
last century, till to-day. An edition, in two volumes 
but without plates or maps, appeared in the same 
year in Dublin. A second edition, in two volumes 
quarto, was published in 1794 in London. An 
abridged edition, to which was added " An Historical 
Survey of the French Colony in the Island of 
St. Domingo," appeared in London in 1799. 



* In the obituary notice in the Times of Alphonse Milne 
Edwards (April 23, 1900) it is erroneously stated that he was a 
grandson of Bryan Edwards, " who settled at Bruges." Bryan 
Edwards, who did not settle at Bruges, had an only son, 
Zachary Hume Edwards. 



Bryan Castle 65 

Edwards contemplated publishing an account of 
all the settlements in the West Indies, with special 
reference to those belonging to France ; and he visited 
San Domingo in 1791, soon after the revolt of the 
negroes, publishing in London in 1797, in quarto, " An 
Historical Survey of the French Colony in the Island 
of St. Domingo . . . /' which was republished also in 
quarto in London in 1807, '' together with an account 
of the Maroon Negroes in the island of Jamaica, and 
a History of the War in the West Indies in 1793 and 
1794, by Bryan Edwards, Esq. : also a tour through 
the several islands of Barbadoes, St. Vincent . . . , 
by Sir William Young, Bart." This work was left 
unfinished by Edwards's death ; and in London, in 
1 80 1, in quarto, prefaced by "a sketch of the life of 
the author, written by himself a short time before his 
death," it was issued as a third volume to the History ; 
the whole being re-issued as a third edition, in three 
volumes, in London, '^with considerable additions," 
in the same year. A fourth edition, also in three 
volumes, appeared in London in 1807, and the fifth and 
last, in five volumes, with plates in a separate quarto 
volume, in London in 18 19. A German translation of 
the whole work was published, and some parts were 
translated into Spanish. A Dutch edition in six vol- 
umes appeared at Haarlem in 1794-99 ; and a French 
abridged translation, in one volume, in Paris in 1801. 

Of the '' Historical Survey of St. Domingo," a 
German translation was published at Leipzig in 1798. 
A Dutch edition was ' published at Haarlem, and a 
French translation in small octavo by J. B. J. Breton 
at Paris ; both appearing. in 1802. 

The history v/as praised by critics, but some of the 

F 



66 Studies in Jamaica History 

opinions of the author were criticised unfavourably^ 
especially those which reflected on the conduct 
of the French in San Domingo, which drew forth a 
letter, published in London in 1797 in both French and 
English, by Colonel Venault de Charmilly, a planter 
in San Domingo of fourteen years' residence and a 
member of the first general assembly of that colony, 
who w^as charged with the duty of negotiating with 
Lieut.-Gen. Adam Williamson the capitulation of the 
F>ench part of the island. De Charmilly also stayed 
in Jamaica for a time. He w^as strongly in favour of 
San Domingo going under the suzerainty of England. 
He gave many evidences that Edwards had written 
his account of that island on insufficient informiation. 

In 1797 Edwards succeeded Sir Joseph Banks as 
Secretary of the ''Association for Promoting the 
Discovery of the Interior parts of Africa," and the 
second volume of the '' Transactions " contained " an 
abstract of Mr. Park's account of his travels and 
discoveries, abridged from his own niinutes by Bryan 
Edwards," which was afterwards incorporated in 
Mungo Park's ''Travels" (1799), in the compilation 
of which Edwards is believed also to have rendered 
considerable assistance to Park. 

In 1796 Bryan Edwards contributed to the 
" Proceedings of the Governor and Assembly of 
Jamaica in regard to the IMaroon Negroes," published 
in London by order of the House of Assembly of 
Jamaica, " Observations on the disposition, character, 
manners and habits of life of the Maroons, and a detail 
of the origin, progress and termination of the late 
war between those people and the white inhabitants." 

In 1784 he published in London "Thoughts on 
LofC. 



Bryan Castle 67 

the late Proceedings of Government respecting the 
' Trade of the West India Islands with the United 
States of North America/' and " Considerations on the 
present state of the Intercourse between his Majesty's 
Sugar Colonies and the Dominion of the United 
States of America," in which he pleaded the cause of 
Free Trade between the West Indies and the United 
States, on the grounds that the lumber and provisions 
that they required could best be obtained from the 
States, which also took a large proportion of their rum. 
The following prophetic sentence is worth quoting : — 
" On the whole, no folly can exceed that of conceiving 
that anything Great Britain can do will prevent the 
American States from having, some time or other, a 
commercial intercourse with our West India Islands 
on their own terms." 

The views in favour of free trade expressed in the 
" Thoughts " brought him into controversy with Lord 
Sheffield, and in a second edition, which appeared in 
the same year (1784), he added a postscript addressed 
to that politician. He was also opposed by a writer 
named John Stevenson, who published in London, 
also in 1784, ''An Address to Brian Edwards, Esq., 
containing remarks on his pamphlet . . .," in which 
he controverts many of Edwards's statements. 

Edwards published in Kingston, Jamaica, '' A 
Speech delivered at a free Conference between the 
Honourable the Council and Assembly of Jamaica, 
held the 19th November, 1789, on the subject of Mr. 
Wilberforce's propositions in the House of Commons 
concerning the Slave-Trade." 

In 1792 he published anonymously in Kingston, 
'' Poems written chiefly in the West Indies." The 



68 Studies in Jamaica History 

principal poem, entitled ''' Jamaica," was the beginning 
of an attempt to write a West Indian georgic in four 
books, which maturer judgment led him to abandon 
ere the second book was completed. The following 
lines may be quoted as descriptive of the fruits of the 
island :— 

^' A verdant ocean see ! Th' ambrosial cane 
O'er many an acre spreads, till ocean's self 
Bounds the rich level, and exulting bears 
The sail of commerce on his burnish'd breast- 
But thine the flowing charm, th' unbounded range, 
Almighty nature — thine the woodland reign ! 
Ev'n on the summit, by disparting clouds 
ReveaPd, and cliffs sublime, the pata tree tow'rs, 
And stems of wondrous gro^^th, sons of the zone. 
To whom ev'n Britain's oak diminish'd bends ; 
Th' immortal mastic, mammee's graceful shaft, 
And far-fam'd acajou spread deep around 
Impenetrable umbrage. Ceiba*^ here 
Extends his uncouth arms, and scatters wide 
His silky down ; yet yields yon mightier fig 
Pre-em.inence : meantime, Pomona show'rs — 
Warm'd by the genial clime, un courted showers — 
Her choicest treasures : avocado mourns 
Her marrowy pear uncropt ; and tam'rind sheds 
Her racy pods, and mild banana droops, 
Unnotic'd. These and others numberless 
r^Iock the proud infidel, and loud proclaim 
Almighty goodness, boundless love divine 1 " 

In this work the " Sable Venus " and '' The Gnat" 
are from the pen of Teale, and a translation of the 
second epode of Horace is b\^ his younger brother, 
Nathaniel Bay^ly Edwards. 

Copies of all the works mentioned above, except 
the German and Spanish translations of the history, 
are in the library of the Institute of Jamaica. They 
are all, unless otherwise stated, octavo volumes. 

* The Silk-Cotton tree. 



Bryan Castle 69 

In 1763, Edwards wrote a prologue to ''Venice 
Preserved," Otway's masterpiece, which was '' spoken 
at the representation of that Tragedy by four gentle- 
men, friends of the author in Jamaica." 

With regard to Edwards's account of the Maroons, 
Dallas, in his '' History of the Maroons " (London, 
1803), says : — 

'' Far be it from me to speak lightly of the works of 
Mr. Edwards ; I shall only observe here that I have been able 
to derive little or no assistance from the cursory narrative 
pubhshed by him in the year 1796. Consulting it, as incumbent 
upon me, I found very few of the particulars which I purposed 
to detail ; and saw, with some pain, that in those few, my 
information did not concur with his," 

but Dallas's own history has been designated *' a 
work very inaccurate in many of its details, and 
entertaining rather as a novel than as a genuine 
history." 

In the life of Edwards in the " Dictionary of 
National Biography," it is stated, " Edwards is said 
by more than one authority to have driven Dr. 
Wolcot, generally known as ' Peter Pindar,' from 
Jamaica, through the vigour of his satire ; but 
Polwhele, who knew Wolcot's history well, asserts 
that the doctor came to England for ordination and 
admission to a good benefice in Jamaica." 

It is certain that on his return to Jamaica Wolcot 
was presented to the living of Vere by his patron, the 
Governor, Sir William Trelawny ; and, moreover, 
Edwards never in his writing, at all events, gave 
evidence of satire equal to Wolcot's own ; and the 
latter, one would think, was far too pachydermatous 
to be driven anywhere by anybody against his will. 



Raymond Hall 

Although of late, writers, misled by Anthony 
Trollope's doubting reference to the story, and by a 
misreading of Froude's words,* have attempted to 
prove that '' Tom Cringle's Log," a work which 
brought literary fame to Michael Scott at a bound, 
w^as probably written in Glasgow in the intervals of 
business ; and although it is possible he may have 
rewritten in that city the chapters to suit the pages of 
^' Blackwood," there seems very good evidence still 
obtainable that the original studies of Jamaica Jife 
and character, wdiich, despite an occasional coarseness 
of thought or expression typical of the time, have 
delighted three or four generations of readers^ were 
actually written in Jamaica. 

Michael Scott was born at Cowlairs, on the out- 
skirts of Glasgow, 30th October, 1789, the fifth and 
youngest son of Allan Scott, a Glasgow merchant 
and owner of a small estate at Cowlairs. He was 
educated at the High School, Glasgow, and between 
1801 and 1805 attended the University. In i8c6 he 
came to Jamaica to manage several estates. In 18 10 
he entered business in Kingston, the nature of which 
compelled him to travel frequently both by sea and 
road. He visited the neighbouring islands and the 



* This subject has been treated at greater length than is 
here possible, in the _^' Daily Gleaner" (Kingston) for 7th 
March, 1900. 



Raymond Hall 71 

Spanish Main, and the experiences of tropical scenery 
and nautical life thus gained form the basis of his 
'' Log." In 18 17 he returned to Scotland, and in. the 
following year he married Margaret, daughter of 
Robert Bogle, of Gilmorehill, merchant in Glasgow. 
He returned to Jamaica immediately afterwards, but 
left the island finally in 1822 and settled in Glasgow. 
There he entered business on his own account and 
became a partner in his father-in-law's firm, Bogle, 
Harris & Co., Glasgow, and Bogle, Douglas & Co., of 
Maracaybo. He was engaged in business until his 
death, which took place in Glasgow, 7th November 
1835. He left a large family. 

It was in 1829 — we learn from Mr. Mowbray 
Morris's introduction to the edition of 1895 — that the 
'' Log" began to make its appearance in '^Blackwood's 
Magazine" as a disconnected series of sketches, 
pubHshed intermittently as the author supplied them, 
or as the editor found it convenient to print them. 
The first five, for instance, appeared in September 
and November, 1829, and in June, July and October, 
1830, under the titles of ''A Scene off Bermuda," 
''The Cruise of H.M.S. 'Torch,'" "Heat and Thirst 
— a Scene in Jamaica," " Davy Jones and the Yankee 
Privateer," and " The Quenching of the ' Torch ' " ; 
and these five papers now constitute the third chapter. 
Blackwood, while keenly alive to their value, was 
urgent, we are told, with the author to give these 
sketches some connecting link which, without binding 
him to the strict rules of narrative composition, would 
"add a strain of personal and continuous interest in 
the movement of the story. The young midshipman 
accordingly began to cut a more conspicuous figure ; 



72 Studies in Jamaica History 

and in July, 1832, the title of ''Tom Cringle's Log" 
was prefixed to what is now the eighth, but was then 
called the eleventh chapter. Henceforward the ''Log" 
proceeded regularly each month, with but one inter- 
mission, to its conclusion in August, 1833 ; and in 
that year it appeared in volume form in Philadelphia.* 
''The Cruise of the 'Midge'" also first appealed 
serially in Blackwood, and afterwards in volume form 
in i834.t Both works were highly praised at the time, 
and Coleridge in his ''Table Talk" called them "most 
excellent." They have been translated into German. 
Scott so successfully concealed his identity that he 
was dead before his authorship of "Tom Cringle" 
was known. It was ascribed to Captain Chamier, to 
Captain Marryat and to Professor Wilson. From in- 
ternal evidence it is clear that the events in this story 
synchronise, if they are not identical, with Scott's 
own travels. Cringle was in Haiti when Petion, who 
died in 18 18, was president. The two cotton trees 
mentioned in the Log, the one at the Camp near 
Kingston, the other on the Spanish Town road, are 
still standing. 

Anthony Trollope visited Jamaica in 1839. He 
tells us, in his "West Lidies and the Spanish Main," 



* Mr. INIowbray Zvlorris gives 1834 as the year of its first 
appearance as a book. The " Dictionary of National 
Biography" says 1836; Alhbone gives 1833. This last-named 
was probably an unauthorized edition. 

t In ''The Cruise of the ' ]\Iidge,''' Scott has introduced the 
incident of the papers which, found in a shark, led to the con- 
demnation of a ship in Kingston in 1799. The papers are now 
in the Institute of Jamaica, and the shark's head is in the United 
Service Institution, London. 







< 



Raymond Hall 73 

that -V' Nothing can be grander, either in colour or 
grouping, than the ravines of the Blue Mountain 
ranges of hills. Perhaps the finest view in the island 
is from Raymond Lodge [sic\ a house high up among 
the mountains, in which, so local rumour says, ' Tom 
Cringle's Log' was written.'' Trollope misrepresented 
the case and misled later writers when he used the 
expression "so local rumour says," for he heard the 
story from the then owner of Raymond Hall, Captain 
Hinton East, as Captain East's daughter (Mrs. 
Marescaux), one of the two ladies Trollope mentions 
as accompanying him on his ride to Newcastle, well 
remembers. 

Mr. Mowbray Morris says that '^ the tradition 
seems to have died away before Froude's visit," but 
the reason why the historian did not mention it is 
probably because he never heard it. 

Raymond Hall is the great house on Maryland 
coffee estate. Situated in the Blue Mountains, at an 
altitude of about 3,000 feet, some eleven miles from 
Kingston, it has been in the possession of the East 
family for upwards of two hundred years. When 
Scott was here, it was in the possession of Sir Edward 
Hyde East. Li the returns of properties given in the 
''Jamaica Almanac " for 1840, ^Maryland is recorded 
as being 1,265 acres in extent. In 1845 it had in- 
creased to 1,700. It was a member of the family, 
Captain East's father, Hinton East (at one time 
Receiver-General of the Island), who got together 
at '' the Gardens," at the village now called Gordon 
Town, a collection of many rare and valuable plants, 
which became the property of the Government in 
1793, but was sold again in 1801 : a catalogue of the 

G 



74 Studies in Jamaica History 

plants appears in Bryan Edwards's '' History of the 
West Indies." 

Mr. Hamilton,* the original Aaron Bang in the 
Log, was, at the time when Michael Scott was in 
Jamaica, planting attorney to Sir Edward Hyde East 
for Maryland ; he resided at times at Kingston, at 
Raymond Hall, and in St.-Thomas-in-the Vale. At 
all three places, his friend Scott was wont to stay with 
him. 

Hamilton was known among his friends as (Aaron) 
Bang, from his fondness for practising with firearms, 
and until the hurricane of 1886 there stood in front of 
Raymond Hall a cabbage-palm, the stem of which 
was riddled with shot, it is said, from Hamilton's gun. 
Under this tree Scott wrote his studies of Jamaica 
life and scenery. So Captain East, who came out in 
1836, only fourteen years after Scott had left, was 
informed. 

An orange tree under which Scott, as he relates in 
his '' Log," made love to his cousin " Maria," stood 
till quite recently at the back of the house. Mrs. 
Marescaux remembers the old estate carpenter, 
Stackpole by name, who was wont to show^ where 
Scott wrote, and where Hamilton fired at the cabbage- 
palm, from the old sofa which still rests in the same 
corner at Raymond Hall. 

The following is Scott's description of the house 



* The name of Hamilton is not included in the Hsts of 
magistrates for St. Catherine's Precinct and Kingston given in 
the Almanac for 1816 : but a " George William Hamilton " was 
then lieutenant in the St. Thomas-in-the-Vale regiment : and 
an Andrew Bogle was in 18 16 one of the magistrates for 
Kingston and owner of '' Dunkley's " in Vere. 



Raymond Hall 75 

and its view : — ^' The beautiful cottage where we were 
sojourning was situated about three thousand feet 
above the level of the sea, and half-way up the 
great prong of the Blue Mountains, known by the 
name of the Liguanea range, which rises behind 
and overhangs the city of Kingston. . . . Immediately 
under foot rose several lower ranges of mountains — 
those nearest us, covered with laurel-looking coffee- 
bushes, interspersed with negro villages hanging 
amongst the fruit trees like clusters of birds' nests on 
the hillside, with a bright green patch of plantain 
suckers here and there, and a white painted overseer's 
house peeping from out the wood, and herds of cattle 
in the Guinea-grass pieces. Beyond these, stretched 
out the lovely plain of Liguanea covered with 
luxuriant cane-pieces, and groups of negro houses, 
and Guinea-grass pastures of even a deeper green 
than that of the canes ; and small towns of sugar- 
w^orks rose every here and there, with their threads of 
white smoke floating up into the clear sky, w^hile, as 
the plain receded, the cultivation disappeared, and it 
gradually became sterile, hot, and sandy, until the 
Long Mountain hove its back like a whale from out 
the sea-like level of the plain ; while to the right of it 
appeared the city of Kingston, like a model, with its 
parade or place d'armes^ in the centre, from which its 
long lines of hot sandy streets stretched out at right 
angles, with the military post of Up Park Camp, 
situated about a mile and a half to the northward and 
eastward of the town. Through a tolerably good 
glass, the church spire looked like a needle, the trees 
about the houses like bushes, the tall cocoa-nut trees 
like harebells ; a slow crawling black speck here and 



76 Studies in Jamaica History 

there denoted a carriage moving along, while waggons 
with their teams of eighteen and twenty oxen looked 
like so many centipedes. At the camp, the two 
regiments drawn out on parade, with two nine- 
pounders on each flank, and their attendant gunners, 
looked like a red sparkling line, with two black spots 
at each end, surrounded by small black dots." 

There is no doubt that Michael Scott stayed at 
Raymond Hall, and there seems no reason to doubt 
that he there wrote many of the sketches which were 
afterwards worked up into '^ Tom Cringle's Log " and 
" The Cruise of the ' Midge.' " 

The house stands, hidden from view, on a 
bamboo-topped hill, which is to be plainly seen to 
the west of the mountain driving-road to Newcastle, 
where it passes through Craigton. It has latterly 
been uninhabited. Silence now reigns within its 
walls, and the luxuriance of tropical growth somewhat 
hides the view which inspired one of Scott's best 
descriptive passages, and made a deep impression on 
Anthony Trollope's sense of the picturesque. 



TOM CRINGLE^S COTTON TREE AT CAMP. 



The Arms of Jamaica 

The following extract from " The State of Jamaica, 
under Sir Thomas Lynch. . . . 1683," printed in 
''The Laws of Jamaica" (London, 1684), is the 
earliest reference to the arms of Jamaica : — 

'• The King has been pleased to honour this Island with a large 
guilt Mace, as a signal ]\lark of his Favour, and to make the 
government appear more great and formal ; It's carried before 
the governour and Chancellour on solemn occasions. 

The King has likewise honoured this Island with Arms, and 
with a publick Broad Seal ; on one side of it his Majesty is seated 
on his Throne, with two Indians on their knees, presenting him 
Fj'uits^ and two Cherubims aloft, supporting a Canopy ; under- 
neath his Feet, this Motto : Diiro de Cortice fructus quarn 
D2dces.^ The Inscription about it is, Ca7'olus Sectmdtts Dei 
Gratia &^c, Doinimis Jamaicce \ On the other side an Escutcheon, 
bearing a cross charged with five Pines : two Indians for the 
Supporters, and for the Crest an Alligator, The Inscription 
in the orle, inclosing all, is 

Ecce alium Ramos porrexit in orbem nee sterilis crux est.t 

The Motto underneath the Escutcheon is : 
Lidus uterq : serviet uni.X 

All this, as I have heard, was designed by the present Lord 
Arch-bishop oi Canterbury ^ in the year 1661, and the seal then 



* How sweet the fruit the hard rind yields, 
t Behold! the Cross hath spread its arms into another 
world, and beareth fruit. 

X The Indians twain shall serve one Lord. 
§ William Saner oft. 

II 



78 The Arms of Jamaica 

delivered to Sir Cha7'les Littleton, that came hither Chancellour,* 
for the Ciiancellours always keep it, and with it Seal all Publick 

Grants. Commissions. Patents. &c. 

It will be noticed that no mention is made of the 
colour of the cross on the shield. And, owing partly 
to lack of definite information and partly to indiffer- 
ence or ignorance, the cross is found blazoned indiffer- 
ently giiles, or, or azure. The best evidence, ho^^■ever, 
points to a cross gules on a field arge7tt, i.e.. the Cross 
of St. George of England, a likely device to have been 
granted by Charles 11. to the new colony, and one 
quite in harmony with the inscription in the orle. 



* He came out with Lord Windsor, the Governor, in 1662. 

and on the return of the latter succeeded him as Governor. 



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